HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir Ralph Bulmer (died 1558) of Wilton in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
(present day
Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh, and was one of four ...
), was an English knight and soldier active on the Scottish border and during the war of the
Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (; December 1543 â€“ March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland ...
. Around 1535, Ralph married either Anne Aske, a co-heiress of Roger de Aske, or Anne Tempest a daughter of Sir John Tempest.
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
granted them possessions of
Marrick Priory Marrick Priory was a Benedictine nunnery in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, established between 1140 and 1160 by Roger de Aske. The parish Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Andrew and 400 acres of local land also belonged to the priory ...
.


Pilgrimage of Grace to Solway Moss

Ralph's uncle, Sir John Bulmer, and his family were attainted of treason for their part in the
Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurre ...
in June 1537. According to the inventory made by the crown officers, John's manor house at Bulmer was made of slate and greatly decayed. Ralph was a prisoner in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
in March 1538. He carved his name "RAVLEF BVLMAR 1537" in the Beauchamp Tower. Ralph was released and later restored to some of the family lands. In November, 1542, Ralph was a captain of a company of 100 men in the campaign against Scotland that culminated in the
battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Chu ...
. He was accompanied by Sir William Bulmer, who commanded 50 men. On his arrival, Lord Hertford was not pleased with the instructions Bulmer had brought him from the
Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
to destroy the town of
Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...
as he was ill-equipped for the task. Ralph was credited with his colleague Ralph Eure and the garrisons of
Berwick upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
and
Teviotdale Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...
with burning during November 1542;
Coldingham Coldingham is a village and parish in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies a short distance inland from Coldingham Bay, three miles northeast of the fishing village of Eyemouth. Parish The parish lies in the east of the Lammermuir ...
; Reston; Ayton with 5 other places; Crochanshaws; Primeside with 6 other places;
Coldstream Coldstream () is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream was where the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army, originated. Description Coldstream li ...
town and Abbey; Scaythmure and other farmsteads belonging to it (which included Swinton and Swithmore).


Captain of Roxburgh

After the
battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns, ...
in September 1547, Ralph was made commander of an English fort in the occupied zone at
Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at lea ...
. He wrote to the
Duke of Somerset Duke of Somerset, from the county of Somerset, is a title that has been created five times in the peerage of England. It is particularly associated with two families: the Beauforts, who held the title from the creation of 1448, and the Seymours ...
on 30 December 1547, complaining of slow progress re-fortifying the site. The site of a new fort had set by the surveyor, Sir Richard Lee. Ralph had already written complaining of the lack of application of William Ridgeway the military engineer who seldom came to Roxburgh. Ralph was intending to collect the profits from the lands of
Kelso Abbey Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbeys, Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the reign of Alexander ...
and
Melrose Abbey St Mary's Abbey, Melrose is a partly ruined monastery of the Cistercian order in Melrose, Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks at the request of King David I of Scotland and was the chief house of t ...
, and planned to set Ker of Cessford, an ally, against Walter Scott of Buccleuch to strengthen his hold on the area. Ralph also obtained intelligence from spies in
Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...
for Somerset. In November 1547 he reported on the movement of artillery to assault the English garrison at
Broughty Castle Broughty Castle is a historic castle on the banks of the River Tay in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454, when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, received permission ...
near
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
. In 1557 Ralph was in readiness with the English border wardens for a Scottish invasion. He died the following year, in 1558.Lodge, Edmund, ''Illustrations of British History'', vol. 1 (London, 1838), pp. 333, 348, 358.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer, Ralph English people of the Rough Wooing 16th-century English soldiers People from Yorkshire 1558 deaths Year of birth unknown