Sir John Clere (1511? – 21 August 1557) was an English politician and naval commander.

Career

He was eldest surviving son of Sir Robert Clere of Ormsby,

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 ...

, and his second wife Alice, daughter of Sir William Boleyn, of

Blickling Hall Blickling Hall is a Jacobean stately home situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure, near the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England. The mansion was built on the ruins of a Tudor building for Sir Henry ...

, Norfolk. He succeeded to his father's estates in 1529 and in 1538 came into possession of about 20 manors, mostly on the Norfolk coast, following his mother's death. He married, by 1531, Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. Clere was knighted in 1539. He was a

Member 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 o ...

(MP) for Bramber 1542 and 1545,

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

March 1553 and

1555. His third and first surviving son, Edward Clere, also became an MP and led an illustrious career.

Naval service

He served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as captain of the ships ''Peter Longanarde'' or '' Peter Pomegranate'' (1545) and ''Swepestake'' (1546). He served in France as treasurer of the English army stationed there from November 1549 to April 1550. In 1556 he was appointed Vice-Admiral at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. His first mission was to escort the abdicated

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

to retirement in Spain, receiving a golden chain from him.

Defeat at Kirkwall

His second assignment was to command with Admiral William Woodhouse a naval expedition against Scotland. Clere's fleet in July included; the ''Minion'', the ''Trinity Henry'', the ''

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

'', the '' Mary Willoughby'', the ''

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

'', the ''Bull'', the ''Tiger'', the ''New Bark'', and the ''Flower de Luce''. He was drowned in August 1557 in battle with a Scots fleet in the Orkney Islands. According to the report of John Southerne, captain of the ''Gabriel'', Clere burnt

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

town on 11 August and on next day entered the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

and brought six cannon on shore to batter the castle. On Friday 13 the force on shore attempting to take the Bishop's Palace was beaten back to sea by 3000 islanders, and 97 men including Clere were drowned.John Strype, ''Ecclesiastical Memorials'', vol. 3 part II (London, 1822), pp. 86-7, quoting Lambeth Talbot MS. 3195 (Volume D), f.114, 'Examination of John Southerne.

References

1511 births 1557 deaths 16th-century Royal Navy personnel English admirals English knights English MPs 1542–1544 English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) English MPs 1555 Military personnel from London Politicians from Norwich People from the Borough of Great Yarmouth Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Military personnel from Norwich {{16thC-England-MP-stub