August 11 – Sir John Kingsmill

On this day in Tudor history, 11th August 1556, politician Sir John Kingsmill, a man who had been close to Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Wriothesley, died.

He served as a sheriff in the reign of Henry VIII and as a commissioner for the dissolution of chantries in 1548 to Edward VI.

Here are some more facts about Sir John Kingsmill:

• Kingsmill was born in around 1497 and was the son of lawyer John Kingsmill (c. 1460-1509), who'd served Henry VII as Justice of the Common Pleas and Chief Justice for Lancaster. Kingsmill's grandfather, Richard Kingsmill (d. 1511) had hosted Catherine of Aragon in 1501 as she travelled from the south coast to London to marry Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales and son of Henry VII.
• Like his father, Kingsmill pursued a legal career, entering Lincoln's Inn in 1516. In 1521, he was called to the bar.
• In 1521, Kingsmill married Constance, the daughter of John Goring of Burton, Sussex. Later, William Goring, Kingsmill's brother-in-law, would introduce Kingsmill to Thomas Cromwell.
• In 1530, Kingsmill was knighted by King Henry VIII and was also made steward of Mottisfont Priory, Hampshire.

• From 1537 to his death, Kingsmill served as a justice of the peace and then in the late 1530s and again in 1543-44, served as a sheriff for Hampshire.
• Kingsmill worked with Thomas Wriothesley in the 1530s and during the dissolution of the monasteries benefitted by being granted the former abbey properties of the manors of Sandford, Woodcott and Sydmonton.
• In 1539, Kingsmill as sheriff was able to help Thomas Cromwell by pushing for his allies to be elected for Parliament.
• Despite his close relationship with Cromwell, he didn't suffer at his fall in 1540.
• In 1548, Kingsmill served Edward VI as a commissioner for the dissolution of chantries.
• In 1553, on the accession of Queen Mary I, the Protestant Kingsmill was pardoned by the queen for 'offences' he had committed, presumably his roles in the dissolution of the monasteries and chantries.
• Kingsmill died on 11th August 1556.

Also on this day in Tudor history...

Image: Kingsmill shield. Argent crusilly fitchy sable a cheveron ermine between three mill-rinds sable and a chief ermine. Victoria County History.

Notes and Sources

• Fritze, R. (2008, January 03). Kingsmill family (per. c. 1480–1698), gentry. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 8 Aug. 2023, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-71875.