Sir Richard Waldegrave (; 1338 – 2 May 1410) was a Member of Parliament for Suffolk and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

Life

His father, Sir Richard Waldegrave, of Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire, had been returned to Parliament in 1335 as knight of the shire for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. Richard (the son) resided at

Smallbridge Hall Smallbridge Hall is a Grade II* listed English country house in Bures St. Mary, Suffolk, near Colchester, England. The house is partially surrounded by a moat and stands on the bank of the River Stour. The present building is one wing of a large ...

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 ...

, and was returned to Parliament twelve times as 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

between 1376 and 1390. He was first elected in 1376, and then again in Oct 1377, 1378 and 1381, when he was elected speaker of the House of Commons. He however prayed the king to discharge him from the office, the first instance, according to James Alexander Manning , of a speaker seeking to be excused. The king, however, insisted on him fulfilling his duties. During his speakership parliament was chiefly occupied with the revocation of the charters granted to the

villein A villein, otherwise known as ''cottar'' or ''crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them ...

s by Richard during

Wat Tyler's rebellion The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

. It was dissolved in February 1382. Waldegrave later represented Suffolk in the two parliaments of 1382, in those of 1383, in that of 1386, in those of 1388, and in that of January 1389–90. He held a number of public appointments but was finally excused from office in 1404.

Death

He died at Smallbridge on 2 May 1410, and was buried on the north side of the parish church of St. Mary at Bures in Suffolk. He had married Joan, widow of Sir Robert Bures, of Bures St. Mary, and heiress of Silvester, by whom he had a son, Sir Richard Waldegrave.

References

History of Parliament WALDEGRAVE, Sir Richard (c.1338–1410) of Walgrave, Northants and Smallbridge in Bures St Mary, Suffolk
* ;Attribution * 1330s births 1410 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Babergh District Richard Waldegrave Speakers of the House of Commons of England English MPs 1376 English MPs October 1377 English MPs 1378 English MPs 1381 English MPs May 1382 English MPs October 1382 English MPs February 1383 English MPs October 1383 English MPs 1386 English MPs February 1388 English MPs September 1388 English MPs January 1390 {{14thC-England-MP-stub