John de Mollesley

The western wing of the Stow Heath Manor House is today The Greyhound and Punchbowl; it was built by de Mollesley between 1438 and 1450 John de Mollesley, also recorded as de Moseley or Mosley, ( – ) was a 15th-century English landowner, squire, and civic official in Staffordshire. He is best known as the builder and first known incumbent of Stow Heath Manor House (now the Greyhound and Punchbowl Inn), one of the oldest surviving timber-framed structures in the Black Country.

Early life and family

Mollesley was born around 1413 in Staffordshire (his family held land in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton), and his father was also named John de Mollesley, while his mother was Elizabeth de Clinton. In 1438, he married the daughter and sole heiress of Edwin de Bilston, consolidating substantial estates in the region and positioning Mollesley as a principal figure in local gentry circles. He then moved to Bilston during the same year.

His eldest son was John Moseley (de Mollesley) Esq. ( – 1514), and he also had other issue including sons born after John the younger.

Stow Heath Manor House

Around 1438, after moving to Bilston, de Mollesley commissioned the construction of a three-block manor house to serve as the capital seat for the Manor of Stowheath in Bilston. He constructed the building using green oak timber clear-cut directly from the estate, and was still constructing the west wing in around 1450. He was the incumbent by 1460, and he held the local court leet in the upper rooms around this time.

Civic career

As a prominent squire during the first reign of Henry VI, de Mollesley active participated in regional governance and public works.

On 1 July 1439, de Mollesley and six others were appointed by royal decree to a select commission alongside local elites (including the Leveson family) tasked with quarrying stone for the complete rebuilding and expansion of St. Peter's Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. Court rolls from 1458 then record de Mollesley as the primary signatory on a legal delegation surrendering parcels of agricultural land in Windmill Field to Sir Thomas de Erdington.

Around , de Mollesley ceded the daily management of the Bilston estate to his eldest son, John. He subsequently retired to his family's primary ancestral seat in Bushbury, north of Wolverhampton.

Death

John de Mollesley died in at Bushbury. His son John officially succeeded him as the head of the family holdings.