Sir Richard JERNINGHAM

Died: 1525

Father: John JERNINGHAM

Mother: Isabel CLIFTON

Married: Anne SAPCOTE (C. Bedford) (d. 14 Mar 1558/9) (dau. of Sir Guy Sapcote and Margaret Wolston) (w.1 of Sir John Broughton of Toddington - m.3 John Russell, 1º E. Bedford) 1526

Children:

1. John JERNINGHAM

2. Edward JERNINGHAM

Richard Jerningham was the younger son of Sir John Jerningham and Isabel Clifton, the daughter of Sir Gervase Clifton (d. 1471) and Isabel Herbert. He had an elder brother, Edward Jerningham, and several sisters, including Mary Jerningham, who married Thomas Stanhope, esquire, by whom she was the grandmother of Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset.

Gentleman of the Chamber to Henry VIII, and in Jan 1511 was sent to Germany to purchase armour on the King's behalf. He spent the following two years on the continent, travelling to Milan, Brussels, Innsbruck, and Venice. He had returned to England by Jul 1513, and accompanied the King on his campaign in France. He was among those knighted by the King in the Cathedral at Tournai on 25 Sep of that year. He remained at Tournai for most of the ensuing five years, being appointed Marshal and Treasurer in 1515, and Deputy of the city in Jan 1517. He surrendered the keys of the city on 8 Feb 1519 in accordance with the King's agreement to return Tournai to the French.

In May 1519 Jerningham was one of the 'sad and ancient knights' appointed to the King's reorganized Privy Chamber. According to Hall's Chronicle, the King's Council called before them:

“divers of the Privy Chamber which had been in the French Court, and banished them the Court for divers considerations, laying nothing particularly to their charges . . . which discharge out of the Court grieved sore the hearts of these young men, which were called the King’s minions. Then was there four sad and ancient knights put into the King’s Privy Chamber, whose names were Sir Richard Wingfield, Sir Richard Jerningham, Sir Richard Weston, and Sir William Kingston, and divers officers were changed in all places”

On 11 Apr 1520 Jerningham witnessed a treaty of commerce between Henry VIII and Emperor Carlos V. In Jun of that year he accompanied the King to the Field of Cloth of Gold at Calais, where he was one of the challengers in the jousts, and attended the King at his meeting with the Emperor at Gravelines in Jul.

During the next two years Jerningham was twice sent on embassies to France. In Jan 1521 he was replaced by William Fitzwilliam as resident Ambassador there. In Jan 1522 he was appointed to the post of Chamberlain of the Exchequer for life. When war once again broke out between France and England in May 1522, he was appointed Treasurer of the King's wars 'beyond the sea', and was with the large army under the Earl of Surrey which invaded Picardy between 30 Aug and 14 Oct, 'burning many towns, castles and villages'. In Jun 1523 he was despatched to Spain, where he and Richard Sampson served together as ambassadors. He accompanied Carlos V's army when the Emperor invaded Guyenne in Dec 1523. While Jerningham was in Spain, Cardinal Wolsey wrote to him on 4 Dec 1523 advising that 'the King's Highness, in consideration of your travails and pains sustained there, hath appointed you to be his Vice Chamberlain, and the same office doth keep and reserve for you purposely till your coming and return'.

Jerningham was given leave to return from Spain on 25 Mar 1524, and was back in England by May. In Aug 1524 he was sent on an embassy to Margaret of Austria in the Low Countries. In a letter to Sampson on 26 Sep 1524, Wolsey referred to Jerningham as the King's 'trusty councillor', indicating that he had at some point been sworn of the Privy Council. He returned to England in Nov, and died a few months later, in Feb or Mar 1525. His will was proved 24 Jul 1526. His widow, Anne Sapcote, by whom he had no surviving children, remarried John Russel, Earl of Bedford.

to Bios Page	to Family Page
to Peerage Page	to Home Page