Richard Fermor (1480x84–1551), was an English wool merchant. His father, Thomas Fermor, was also a wool merchant in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

, Oxfordshire. By 1505 Richard was a merchant of the staple at Calais. In 1509, he was one of the jurors who convicted

Richard Empson Sir Richard Empson (c. 1450 – 17 August 1510), minister of Henry VII, was a son of Peter Empson. Educated as a lawyer, he soon attained considerable success in his profession, and in 1491 was a Knight of the shire for Northamptonshire in Par ...

and he benefited financially from Empson's fall by buying the manor of

Easton Neston Easton Neston is situated in south Northamptonshire, England. Though the village of Easton Neston which was inhabited until around 1500 is now gone, the parish retains the name. At the 2011 Census the population of the civil parish remained le ...

. From 1520 to 1523, Fermor was the warden of the

Grocers' Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 110 Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London and ranks second in order of precedence. The Grocers' Company was established in 1345 for merchants occupied in the trade of grocer and is ...

. In 1540, Fermor was found guilty of

misprision of treason Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a p ...

and on 9 May 1540 he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the

Marshalsea Prison The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...

and attainted. In 1541, he was pardoned. An extensive inventory of Richard Fermor's household goods at Easton Neston survives in the Cotton manuscripts. He married Anne Browne, daughter of Sir William Browne,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

. They had five sons, Sir John Fermor, Sir Thomas Fermor, Sir Jerome Fermor and two other sons whose names are not known, as well as five daughters, including Mary (1534-1573). Richard Fermor died in 1551 or 1552. His heir was Sir John Fermor (d. 1571) who married Maud Vaux (d. 1579), a daughter of

Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden (c. 1460 – 14 May 1523) was a soldier and courtier in England and an early member of the House of Commons. He was the son of Lancastrian loyalists Sir William Vaux of Harrowden and Katherine Penyso ...

. Their eldest surviving son was George Fermor (d. 1612).

References

1480s births 1551 deaths Recipients of English royal pardons 16th-century merchants Merchants of the Staple 16th-century English businesspeople {{England-business-bio-stub