Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Barton, John de
BARTON, JOHN de (fl. 1304), judge, otherwise called de Ryton and de Fryton, a Yorkshire gentleman, is with Ralph Fitzwilliam, the king's lieutenant in Yorkshire, a member of the itinerary court constituted by the first commission of Trailbaston for Yorkshire, for which Hemingford gives as date 1304 (as to date Spelman's 'Glossary' is silent). A parliamentary writ of 23 Nov. 1304 is addressed to Barton and Fitzwilliam, with two others (Parliamentary Writs, i. 407); but their names do not appear in the later and greater commission for all the counties. "Whence it seems probable the offences they were to try were found to require judges of more experience and greater powers. He was appointed a commissioner to inquire as to a specie chest found on the Yorkshire coast and claimed as wreck by the king, and also in 8 Edward II to levy scutage in Yorkshire. In 24 Edward I he was summoned to military service against the Scots (Abb. Rot. Orig. i. 214), and was on the commission of array for Yorkshire in 28 Edward I, and again in 31 Edward I (Parliamentary Writs, i. 277, 345, 370).
[Foss's Lives of the Judges.]