The Spring family is a

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

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 ...

family that has been involved in the politics and economy of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

since the 15th century, as well as holding large estates in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

from the 16th century.Joseph Jackson Howard, ‘Spring’, ‘’The Visitation of Suffolk’’ ( Whittaker and Co, 1866), 165-206.

History

The earliest recording of the family is in 1311 in northern England, where Sir Henry Spring was lord of the manor at a place that would become known as Houghton-le-Spring. The family first came to prominence in the town 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 ...

in Suffolk, where they were important merchants in the cloth and wool trade during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At the height of the wool trade in the late 15th century, the Springs were one of the richest families in England. The family owned over two dozen manor houses in the counties of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, 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 North ...

and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, including

Cockfield Hall Cockfield Hall in Yoxford in Suffolk, England is a Grade I listed private house standing in of historic parkland, partly dating from the 16th century. Cockfield Hall takes its name from the Cokefeud Family, established there at the beginning ...

, which they built in the 16th century, and Newe House. The most successful of the Spring merchants was Thomas Spring (c. 1474–1523), who was the first member of the Suffolk Springs to hold public office. Thomas Spring gave substantial funds for the construction of St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham, where he lies buried. Over following generations, the Springs firmly established themselves as nobility in Suffolk. This was partly facilitated through a series of advantageous marriages to powerful local families, such as the Waldegraves, Jermyns and de Veres. Additionally, successive generations of the family held public office, representing

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

and occupying the role of

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 ...

. Despite being relations of the Yorkist

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the 6th son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the ...

, the Springs were supporters of the House of Lancaster throughout the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, reflected by the grant of arms to the family by Henry VI. Sir John Spring (d.1549) was knighted by Henry VII and aided the dukes of

and

in suppressing the Lavenham revolt of 1525. His son, Sir William, became High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1578 having served as MP for Suffolk and was knighted by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. His grandson was knighted by

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, also serving as MP and High Sheriff of Suffolk. During this period, the Springs were committed

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

s and under their patronage Cockfield became a centre for Puritan thought and activity.

On 11 August 1641, Sir William Spring was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Pakenham in the County of Suffolk, in the Baronetage of England by King Charles I, in an attempt by the king to win the favour of Parliamentarian gentry families in the lead up to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. He was High Sheriff of Suffolk and later served as MP for

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

and Suffolk, and was an active recruiter for the Parliamentarian army during the war. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the family was issued with a pardon for their actions against the king. Sir William's son, the second baronet, was also the MP for Suffolk and one of the earliest members to be designated a Whig. The family title became dormant on the death of the sixth baronet in 1769. The

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician Lord Risby (b.1946) is the most recent member of the family to represent Suffolk in the British Parliament. Other members of the family include the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officers Lieutenant-Colonel William Spring (1769-c.1839), Brigadier-General Frederick Spring (1878-1963), Major Trevor Spring (1882-1926) and Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Spring (1921–1997). Flying Officer Hector Spring DFC (1915-1978) served with distinction in the Royal Air Force during World War II. The family have a monument erected to them in the church of St Peter and St Paul in Lavenham and the parclose screen in the north aisle is to their chantry. Additional monuments to the family exist in Cockfield and Pakenham, as well as on

Ullswater Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, being about long and wide, with a maximum depth a little over . It was scooped out by a glacier in the Last Ice Age. Geography It is a typical Lake District "ribbon lake", ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

Springs in the United States

Thomas Spring (c. 1430- 1487) and Anna (Spring) king had a son John Spring (1500-1547) who married Dorothy Waldgrave. John and Dorothy Spring then had a son William Spring and two daughters Frances, and Bridget. William Spring (1533-1599) married Anne Kitson and they had a son John Spring the second (1558-1601) and three daughters Margaret, Anne, and Dorothy. John Spring went on and married Mary Ann Trelawney and they gave birth to another John Spring the third, he was born in England in 1589 and he had a brother Willam Spring. The great- -great-great-grandson of Thomas Spring, John Spring the third (son of John the second and Mary Ann Trelawney) traveled to Watertown, Massachusetts via the ship "Elizabeth of Ipswich" and arrived on April 30, 1634 in America with his wife Eleanor (maiden name Barsham) and their kids, Mary, Henry, John the fourth and William. Henry Spring (c. 1628-1673) raised in Massachusetts married Mehitabel Bartlett, and they had a son Thomas Spring (1673-1710). Thomas (1673-1710) with his wife Elizabeth Traine (1676-1753) had a son Thomas Spring the second (1708-1753) and he married Margaret Gates (d. 1768). Thomas the second and Margaret had Thomas the third in 1741. Thomas the third had a son Thomas Spring(field)(1766-1845) the fourth. During this time the last name got changed from Spring to Springfield. Thomas Springfield the fourth and his wife Loadicea (1766-1837) had son Solomon Springfield (1807-1842). Solomon Springfield married Cathrine Bradley (1809-1891), they had a son, Benjamin Springfield (1832-1920). Benjamin Springfield married Mary Chambers (1835-1905) and their sons name was William Springfield (1870-1930). William and his wife Mada Holliman (1877-1963) gave birth to Lee Springfield (1894-1963). Lee and his wife Willie Mae Hogue (1902-1942) Had son, John Springfield (1933-1994) and there quite a few with the last name Spring(field) left in the United States.

Springs in Ireland

In 1578, Captain Thomas Spring, the great-grandson of Thomas Spring of Lavenham, settled in

as the Constable of Castlemaine, where there was a small English garrison.

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

granted him over 3,000 acres of land in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

and elsewhere in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

, including

Killagha Abbey Killagha Abbey of Our Lady of Bello Loco, also called Kilcolman Abbey, is a ruined Augustinian abbey and former manor house in County Kerry, Ireland. The abbey is situated one and a half miles north-west of Milltown on the banks of the River Ma ...

. The family's secure financial position facilitated marriages with several

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

Munster dynasties. Another descendant,

Walter Spring Walter Spring the Unfortunate (1620 – c.1678) was an Anglo-Irish Roman Catholic landowner involved in the Irish Confederate Wars. Biography Spring was the son of Thomas Spring, a lawyer. He was the grandson of Walter Spring, who had served as ...

, married a daughter of the

Knight of Kerry Knight of Kerry (), also called The Green Knight, is one of three Hiberno-Norman hereditary knighthoods, all of which existed in Ireland since feudal times. The other two were The White Knight (surname fixed as Fitzgibbon), being dormant sinc ...

and was involved in the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

, consequently forfeiting much of his land. His descendants married into the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

Rice family, establishing the Spring Rice family. This branch was raised to the peerage as

Barons Monteagle of Brandon Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, after the Whig politician Thomas Spring Rice had served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

. The Spring Rices owned 6,445 acres in

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

, 2,000 acres in

and a further 2,000 acres elsewhere in Ireland. The second Lord Monteagle was a

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

politician who helped to found the

Irish Dominion League The Irish Dominion League was an Irish political party and movement in Britain and Ireland which advocated Dominion status for Ireland within the British Empire, and opposed partition of Ireland into separate southern and northern jurisdictions ...

. Future generations sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as both Liberals and Conservatives until the passing of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

. Sir Cecil Spring Rice (1859–1918) was the British Ambassador to the United States during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, while his cousin,

Thomas Spring Rice, 3rd Baron Monteagle of Brandon Thomas Aubrey Spring Rice, 3rd Baron Monteagle of Brandon (3 November 1883 – 11 October 1934) was an Anglo-Irish peer and British diplomat. Early life Spring Rice was born in County Meath, the youngest son of Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron M ...

held minor diplomatic office. The 3rd Baron's sister was the

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

activist,

Mary Spring Rice Mary Ellen Spring Rice (14 September 1880 – 1 December 1924) was an Irish nationalist activist during the early 20th century.Gerald Spring Rice (1926–2013) was an officer in the

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

. The civil servant Sir Francis Spring (1849–1933), the army officer Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Spring Walker (1876-1941) and the Irish politician

Dick Spring Dick Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North from 1981 to 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997 ...

(b.1950) are also descended from the same family.

Motto and arms

Coat-of-arms of Sir William Spring, 4th Baronet

The family motto is ''Non mihi sed Patriae'' (Latin), ''Not for myself but for my fatherland''.Burke, B. 'The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time' (Heritage Books, 1840), pp.956 Thomas Spring

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

(died 1440) of Lavenham, the grandfather of Thomas Spring, was granted a

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

in the first reign of Henry VI, thus elevating his family into the ranks of

armiger In heraldry, an armiger is a person entitled to use a heraldic achievement (e.g., bear arms, an "armour-bearer") either by hereditary right, grant, matriculation, or assumption of arms. Such a person is said to be armigerous. A family or a cl ...

ous society. As the family moved from the merchant class to the minor nobility, the coat-of-arms was employed to convey the newly bestowed rank of the family. As such it is prominently displayed, alongside the arms of the Earl of Oxford, over thirty times on Lavenham church. Examples of the Spring arms, often quartered with other local noble families, can be found across Suffolk. The coat-of-arms is now borne by Thomas Spring's descendants. The arms is described as "Argent on a chevron, between three mascles Gules, as many cinquefoils Or." The crest is an antelope or stag, quartered in gold and silver, although the crest of an eagle has also been used.

Footnotes

References