Sir William Spring of

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Lavenham Guildhall, Guildhall, Little ...

(died 3 February 1599) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

politician and landowner.

Biography

Spring was the son of Sir John Spring and Dorothy, the daughter of Sir William Waldegrave. His father died while he was a minor, so he was made a ward of Edmund Wright Esq. of Bradfield. Spring was MP for

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

in 1570. He was

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 ...

in 1578/9 and oversaw

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

's visit to the county in 1578. He greeted the Queen on the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

county border between the towns of Linton and Haverhill, accompanied by two hundred members of the

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

dressed in white velvet. She proceeded to stay with Spring's relations, Sir William Cordell and

Sir William Drury Sir William Drury (2 October 152713 October 1579) was an English statesman and soldier. Family William Drury, born at Hawstead in Suffolk on 2 October 1527, was the third son of Sir Robert Drury (c. 1503–1577) of Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire, ...

. He was knighted by the Queen upon becoming High Sheriff. Whilst patron of Cockfield Church, Spring allowed it to be used for

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

religious meetings, starting the Spring family's association with Puritanism that would last until the Restoration. In 1579, Spring invited John Knewstub to be the priest at Cockfield and the village became a centre of Puritan doctrine. In May 1582, Spring organised an assembly of about 60 clergymen from Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire who met in Cockfield Church, to confer about the

Prayer Book A prayer book is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are ...

, clerical dress and customs. The Close Rolls contains record of a recognizance in the amount of £2000 acknowledged by

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peerage, peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after ...

to Sir William Spring on 19 February 1583 in connection with an indenture. A fine was levied regarding the sale of the manor of Earls Hall in Cockfield, Suffolk by Sir William Spring against Oxford in 1583. The Earl later swore before the Queen to pay the money. Sir William first married Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson and Margaret Donnington. Upon her death he married second Susan, the daughter of Sir Ambrose Jermyn. He had one son and four daughters.. He was succeeded by his son John Spring, who died shortly after him. John's grandson was made a baronet by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

.''A Concise Description of Bury Saint Edmund’s and Its Environs''
London, Longman and Co., 1827, p. 262, retrieved 26 April 2013.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, William

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

16th-century English MPs High sheriffs of Suffolk 1599 deaths Year of birth missing 16th-century births 16th-century English merchants People from Lavenham 16th-century Puritans