Sir William Spring of

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the mediev ...

(died 3 February 1599) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

politician and landowner.

Biography

Spring was the son of Sir John Spring and Dorothy, the daughter of Sir William Waldegrave. His father died while he was a minor, so he was made a ward of Edmund Wright Esq. of Bradfield. Spring was MP for Suffolk in 1570. He was

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

in 1578/9 and oversaw

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

's visit to the county in 1578. He greeted the Queen on the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

/ Suffolk county border between the towns of Linton and Haverhill, accompanied by two hundred members of the

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

dressed in white velvet. She proceeded to stay with Spring's relations,

Sir William Cordell Sir William Cordell (about 1522 – 17 May 1581) of Melford Hall in the parish of Long Melford, Suffolk, was an English lawyer, landowner, administrator and politician who held high offices under both the Catholic Queen Mary I and the ...

and Sir William Drury. He was knighted by the Queen upon becoming High Sheriff. Whilst patron of Cockfield Church, Spring allowed it to be used for

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

religious meetings, starting the Spring family's association with Puritanism that would last until the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

. In 1579, Spring invited John Knewstub to be the priest at Cockfield and the village became a centre of Puritan doctrine. In May 1582, Spring organised an assembly of about 60 clergymen from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire who met in Cockfield Church, to confer about the

Prayer Book A prayer book is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are ...

, clerical dress and customs. The Close Rolls contains record of a recognizance in the amount of £2000 acknowledged by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford to Sir William Spring on 19 February 1583 in connection with an indenture. A fine was levied regarding the sale of the manor of Earls Hall in Cockfield, Suffolk by Sir William Spring against Oxford in 1583. The Earl later swore before the Queen to pay the money. Sir William first married Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson and Margaret Donnington. Upon her death he married second Susan, the daughter of Sir Ambrose Jermyn. He had one son and four daughters.. He was succeeded by his son John Spring, who died shortly after him. John's grandson was made a baronet by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

.''A Concise Description of Bury Saint Edmund’s and Its Environs''
London, Longman and Co., 1827, p. 262, retrieved 26 April 2013.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, William

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

16th-century English MPs High Sheriffs of Suffolk 1599 deaths Year of birth missing 16th-century births English merchants 16th-century merchants People from Lavenham 16th-century Puritans