Sir Gilbert of Preston was a British justice. He was the son of Walter of Preston, who was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire

This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been...

 between 1206 and 1208. Gilbert acted as a collector of aid in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

 between 1235 and 1236, and in 1240 was appointed as a royal justice, acting almost continuously until 1254 as a Puisne justice

Puisne Justice

A Puisne Justice or Puisne Judge is the title for a regular member of a Court. This is distinguished from the head of the Court who is known as the Chief Justice or Chief Judge. The term is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions such as England, Australia, Kenya, Canada, Sri Lanka,...

 on the Eyre

Eyre (legal term)

An Eyre or Iter was the name of a circuit traveled by an itinerant justice in medieval England, or the circuit court he presided over , or the right of the king to visit and inspect the holdings of any vassal...

 circuits of William de York

William de York

-Life:He was provost of Beverley as well as holding prebends in the dioceses of Lincoln, London, and York. He was also a royal justice. He was elected on 10 December 1246 and consecrated on 14 July 1247. He died in January 1256, probably on the 31st.-References:...

, Roger of Thirkleby

Roger of Thirkleby

Roger of Thirkleby was a British judge. The first record of his work in the judicial system is in 1230, when he was appointed a clerk of the bench. By the end of 1231 he was a clerk for William de Raley. He remained a clerk until 1242, when he was promoted to justice...

 and Henry of Bath

Henry of Bath

Henry de Bada was a British judge and administrator. He began his career under his relative Hugh of Bath, who died in 1236, leaving his chattels to Henry. Henry started his administrative career as a bailiff for the Honour of Berkhamsted in 1221, succeeding Hugh as Under-Sheriff of Berkshire...

, and in the common bench at Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

. He also received many miscellaneous judicial and administrative commissions, but was not given a regular salary (of £40) until 1253, despite having worked as a judge for 13 years.

In 1254 Gilbert served as senior justice on an Eyre circuit for the first time, although when not on Eyre he continued to sit as a Puisne judge at Westminster. In 1260 he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas

The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...

, where he sat almost continuously at court, except when sessions of the court were suspended because of political disturbances. In 1268 he left to travel another Eyre circuit, returning to his position in 1272, only because the death of Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 halted all Eyre's. He remained Chief Justice of the Common Bench until his death in 1274.

In 1239 he had married Alice, daughter of Henry of Braybrooke

Henry of Braybrooke

Henry of Braybrooke was an English High Sheriff and justice.He was the son of Robert of Braybrooke, who had served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland, as well as Master of the Great Wardrobe, and had accumulated large amounts of land in Northamptonshire,...

, with whom he had no children. As a result he left his possessions to his nephew Laurence of Preston, son of his younger brother William who had predeceased him. He had, through the grant of land in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

 to the Prior of Sempringham

Sempringham

Sempringham is a hamlet in Lincolnshire, England that is located north of Bourne, on the Lincolnshire fen edge. Sempringham is now a very small hamlet consisting of a church, a house and a well, giving little clue to the history embodied within its parish boundary. Most of its houses are a...

, arranged for a Canon at Sempringham for himself, his ancestors and heirs.