Henry Long of Wraxall (c. 1417 – 3 May 1490) 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 ...

lawyer, landowner, and member of Parliament, and was three times Sheriff of Wiltshire. Born in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, he was the son of Robert Long and Margaret Godfrey. In 1435 he was elected one of the two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest r ...

, and in 1442 for

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...

. He was a

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

in 1449, 1453–4, and again 1472–5 and served on various commissions between 1450 and 1488. He was also Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1456, 1475, and 1482–3. In

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play '' Richard III,'' the Sheriff introduced in ''Act Five, Scene One'', was Henry Long of Wraxall, who was Sheriff in the time of Richard III, in 1483.Shakespeareana Genealogica: From King John to King Henry VIII. Notes on Characters in Macbeth and Hamlet - Page 242 Long married three times; to Joan Ernle, Margaret Newburgh and Joan Malwyn. He inherited the manor of South Wraxall from his father, but having no issue, the manor devolved on his nephew Sir Thomas Long.

References

1417 births 1490 deaths High Sheriffs of Wiltshire Henry Long (MP 1435-1475) English MPs 1435 English MPs 1442 English MPs February 1449 English MPs 1453 English MPs 1472 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Old Sarum {{15thC-England-MP-stub

Further reading

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