Person    | Male  Born 1338  Died 15/7/1381

John Ball

Born St Albans. As a priest he followed the Lollard doctrine which advocated social equality and hence was imprisoned several times. This was where he was when the Peasants' Revolt began. The Kentish rebels freed him and he responded with a sermon on Blackheath which included 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?' meaning that as there were no lords at the beginning of time, why should there be any now? 

This, not surprisingly, led to his reimprisonment, trial and execution. He was hung, drawn and quartered at St Albans, in front of Richard II. His quarters were distributed across four towns for display and his head ended up on a spike on London Bridge. Other rebels suffered the same fate and at least one of them was sent, piecemeal, to Norwich, Harwich, Lynn and Yarmouth but we can't discover Ball's final destinations.

We've heard that in the modern meat trade the "fifth quarter" means the offal, whereas in medieval England it could have been used to mean the head. Nice.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
John Ball

Commemorated ati

The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Matthew Bell realised that The Great Rising lacked a proper memorial and that...

Read More

Other Subjects

Councillor R. White

Councillor R. White

Member of the Electric Lighting and Tramways Committee, West Ham. Our image comes from Wikipedia's photo captioned 'First West Ham Borough Council, 1886-7'. This 'Councillor R. White' is probably ...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
John Carpenter

John Carpenter

Town Clerk. Endowed the City of London School in 1442. Our picture is of his statue high up on the wall of the City of London School's glassed ceiling atrium standing over the door to the balcony...

Person, Education, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Frederick Lockyear

Frederick Lockyear

Worked for the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society. Was on the building committee for the Abbey Wood branch in 1912.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Canon Evan Pilkington

Canon Evan Pilkington

Chancellor of St Pauls in 1979.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Acton UDC

Acton UDC

In 1865 the Local Government Act 1858 was adopted by the parish of Acton, and a twelve-member local board of health was formed to govern the area. The Parish of Acton became an Urban District in 1...

Group, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Granville Road V1 bomb

Granville Road V1 bomb

A V1 bomb fell on Granville Road early on a Sunday morning. 15 people were killed and 25 seriously injured. Twelve houses were destroyed and 100 others damaged.  Holy Trinity church was badly damag...

Event, Tragedy

1 memorial
London & South Western Railway

London & South Western Railway

Initially named London and Southampton Railway it connected all the way to Plymouth into a London terminus at Nine Elms. The line was extended in 1848 to terminate at the new station Waterloo. L&am...

Group, Transport

2 memorials
Major Cyril Martin, GC

Major Cyril Martin, GC

Soldier. Born Cyril Arthur Joseph Martin in Derby. He served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and then with the Corps of Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Squad. In Battersea on 17/18th January 1943,...

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
B. Hall

B. Hall

Name on one of the main panels of the East Ham WW1 memorial.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
J. Court

J. Court

Name on one of the corner plaques of the East Ham WW1 memorial.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial