Anthony Wingfield KG (bef. 1488 - 1552)

Born before 1488 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (De Vere) Wingfield — married before 1520 in England

Descendants

Died 15 Aug 1552 after age 64 in Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Anthony was the son of John Wingfield and Anne Audley, also known as Tuchet.^[1][2][3][4] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives a birth date of before 1488.^[5]

Marriage and Children

Anthony married Elizabeth de Vere, daughter of George de Vere and Margaret Stafford.^[4] Douglas Richardson gives a marriage date of before 1528;^[1][2] the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says they married before 1520, citing their attendance as man and wife at the Field of the Cloth of Gold that year.^[5] They had fifteen children:

• John,^[1][2][3] who died without issue^[4][6]
• Francis^[1][2]
• Robert,^{[1][2][3][4][6]} who was Anthony's main heir^[5]
• Charles^{[1][2][3][4][6]}
• Richard^{[1][2][3][4][6]}
• George^[1][2]
• Anthony^[1][2][3][6]
• Henry^{[1][2][3][4][6]}
• Elizabeth^[1][2]
• another Elizabeth, who married William Naunton^{[1][2][3][4][6]}
• Mary, who married Arthur Rush, Anthony Roke and Thomas Darcy^[1][2][3][6]
• Margaret^[1][2][6]
• another Margaret, who married Francis Soone/Soame and someone with the last name Audley^[1][2][6]
• Jane^[1][2]
• Anne^[1][2]

Earlier Career

Anthony was an Esquire of the Body to the king at the end of Henry VII's life, and in this capacity he attended Henry VII's funeral in 1509.^[7]

Anthony was closely associated with Henry VIII. In 1510 he was one of those who challenged Henry VIII in a tournament.^[5]

Anthony was a Justice of the Peace for Suffolk from 1510.^[5]

In 1512 Anthony was appointed a captain, fighting in France in 1512-1513.^[5] He was knighted on 25 September 1513 at Tournai, France.^[8] Shortly after he became one of Henry VIII's "spears", a bodyguard to the monarch.^[5]

Anthony served as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1515-1516, having almost been sheriff in 1513-1514^[5] (possibly he was stood down in 1513 because of other duties^[7]).

1520s and 1530s

In 1520 Anthony and his wife were present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and almost immediately after he was with Henry VIII when he met Emperor Charles V.^[5]

Anthony fought again in France in 1523, under Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, with whom he was close.^[5]

On 7 December 1527 Anthony and others sought royal permission for the export of foodstuffs from Suffolk to Flanders "as they were wont", to prevent the impoverishment of the county.^[9]

From 1529 Anthony sat in the House of Commons. He was chosen to represent Suffolk as a Knight for the Shire in 1529, 1539, probably 1542 and 1547, and Horsham, Sussex as Burgess in 1545.^[7]

In 1536 the Duke of Suffolk specially sought Anthony's help in dealing with an uprising in Lincolnshire of Roman Catholics protesting against Henry VIII's split from the Roman Catholic church.^[5]

Dissolution of the Monasteries

Anthony did well out of the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1536 he was one of the Commissioners charged with valuing the property of religious communities in Suffolk. He was granted five Suffolk manors previously held by monastic houses. In 1539 he witnessed the surrender of the abbey of Bury St Edmund's: in 1542 he secured a lease of lands owned by that abbey, and four years later he was made keeper of its premises.^[5]

Last Decade of Henry VIII's Reign

Anthony was made a Privy Councillor in 1539. The same year he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of Henry VIII's household, and captain of the royal guard. As captain, the next year he arrested Henry VIII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell.^[5]

On 23 April 1541 Anthony became a Knight of the Garter: he was formally installed on 22 May 1541.^[10]

Anthony was back fighting in France in 1544: he was one of the commanders in the siege of Boulogne,^[5] with some 500 men, and after its capture was briefly on the town's council.^[7]

In 1548-9, the last year of Henry VIII's reign, Anthony's debts to the king led to him handing over several manors.^[7]

Anthony led the guard in the funeral procession of Henry VIII in 1549.^[7] Henry VIII's will named Anthony as one of the advisory councillors for its administration, and bequeathed him £200, quite a substantial legacy.^[5][7][11]

Reign of Edward VI

Anthony continued as Vice-Chamberlain of the royal household from the accession of Edward VI in 1547 to 1550. On the fall of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in 1549, Anthony was sent to arrest him. John Dudley, who then came to power, rewarded Anthony with offices: steward and chancellor of Denbigh at the end of 1549; Comptroller of the royal household in February 1550; and executive chamberlain in April 1550.^[5] The next year he was one of three senior representatives of Edward VI's government sent to tell the future Mary I that she should stop having priests say mass in her household.^[5][12]

In 1552 Anthony was joint Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk.^[1][2]

Death

Anthony died at Bethnal Green, Middlesex on 15 August 1552,^[1][2] at the house of Sir John Gates.^[5] His funeral was held in Stepney on 21 August,^[7] with an evangelical clergyman preaching, suggesting that Anthony was of evangelical leanings.^[5] Henry Machyn's Diary describes the elaborate funeral procession from Bethnal Green to Stepney, "with clerks syngyng, and a harold [herald]... with ys [his] standard and a gret banner of armes and [his helmet] and ys targett of the garter, and ys sword, crest a [bull] gold and sabull" and how there was a great dinner after the service for everyone who came.^[13]

There is a memorial inscription in Letheringham Church, Suffolk.^[14] Anthony's will, dated 13 August 1552, was proved on 26 April 1553 and named his wife and his eldest surviving son Robert as executors.^[7]

Anthony's wife survived him: her will was dated 28 July 1557 and proved on 13 November 1559.^[1][2]

Research Notes

Walter C Metcalfe's edition of the Suffolk Visitations gives a somewhat muddled account of the family of Anthony and his wife.^[3] The Harleian Society expanded edition of Norfolk Visitations wrongly names Anthony's wife as Ursula.^[15]

Marlyn Lewis wrongly states that Anthony was buried at Letheringham, Suffolk.^[16]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. II, p. 337, HANKFORD 12, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. III, pp.2 201-202, HANKFORD 13
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9} Walter C Metcalfe (ed.). The Visitations of Suffolk, privately printed for the editor by William Pollard, 1882, pp. 80-81, Internet Archive
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} Henry Ellis (ed.). The Visitation of the County of Huntingdon, 1613, Camden Society 1849, pp. 126-127, Internet Archive
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by P R N Carter for 'Wingfield, Sir Anthony', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9} E M Dewing. Pedigree of Wingfield of Wingfield, Letheringham, Easton &c., in 'Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History', Vol. VII, part I, 1889, p. 59, PDF
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8} History of Parliament Online, entry for 'WINGFIELD, Sir Anthony (by 1488-1552), of Letheringham, Suff.'
8. ↑ W A Shaw. The Knights of England, Vol. II, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 38, Internet Archive
9. ↑ 'Henry VIII: December 1527, 1-9', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 4, 1524-1530, ed. J S Brewer (London, 1875), pp. 1629-1640, British History Online, accessed 25 September 2021, subscription required
10. ↑ W A Shaw, The Knights of England, Vol. I, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906, p. 23, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Testamenta Vetusta, Vol. I, Nichols and Son, 1836, pp. 42 and 44, Internet Archive
12. ↑ 'Edward VI - Volume 13: August 1551', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth, 1547-80, ed. Robert Lemon (London, 1856), p. 34, entry for 29 August 1551, British History Online, accessed 25 September 2021, subscription required
13. ↑ John Gough Nichols (ed.). The Diary of Henry Machyn, citizen and merchant-tailor of London, from A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1563, Camden Society, 1848, p. 24, Internet Archive
14. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 62, pp. 181-182, entry for WINGFIELD, Sir ANTHONY', Wikisource
15. ↑ Walter Rye (ed.). The Visitacion of Norfolk, 1563, enlarged..., Harleian Society, 1891, p. 317, Internet Archive
16. ↑ Marlyn Lewis. 'Our Royal, Titled, Noble and Commoner Ancestors', entry for Sir Anthony Wingfield, Comptroller of the King's Household

• Wikipedia:Anthony Wingfield

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 25 September 2021 and was reviewed and approved 27 September 2021 by Thiessen-117.

Anthony Wingfield KG appears in a trail from Gateway Ancestor Francis Dade to Magna Carta Surety Baron Roger le Bigod, part of which is documented by Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry (IV:352-358 WINGFIELD). This trail was badged by the Magna Carta Project on 28 Sep 2021. The trail is outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about Magna Carta trails. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".