John Langstrother

Who is John Langstrother?

Sir John Langstrother was treasurer of England, a prior and administrator of St John of Jerusalem in England, and about the year 1470 was appointed Preceptor of Balsall

A son of Thomas Langstrother of Crosswaite, he was by 1453 a councillor of the Yorkist king Edward IV. He was an administrator of the hospital of St John of Jerusalem in England and was unanimously chosen as prior on 9 March 1469. The prior was normally the premier baron of England. Following the defeat of Edward's supporters by Warwick in 1469 at the Battle of Edgecote Moor he was appointed treasurer of England, but was dismissed by Edward later in the year. He was reinstated in 1470 after the temporary re-accession of Henry VI.

After the Yorkist win at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, where he had shared command of the Lancastrian centre, he sought sanctuary in Tewkesbury Abbey but was taken out and executed in Tewkesbury town centre. He was buried in the hospital of St John at Clerkenwell.