John Guildford

Sir John Guildford (by 1508–1565) was an English Member of Parliament for Gatton, New Romney and Kent and was appointed Sheriff of Kent in 1552.[1]

Life

He was the son of George Guildford of Hemsted by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Mortimer of Mortimer's Hall, Essex.

He was elected MP for Gatton in 1529, knight of the shire for Kent in 1542 and MP for New Romney in Oct 1553. [2] He was knighted in 1542.

He became involved in a dispute over the inheritance of his uncle Edward Guildford's lands, his adversary in the legal process being Edward's son-in-law John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.[3]Dudley acted on behalf of his wife Jane. Dudley claimed the manor of Halden in Sussex, and other lands in Kent and Sussex, despite John Guildford's assertion that his uncle had intended him to inherit; Edward Guildford had left no will.[4] Five years later Dudley sold the manor with others to Thomas Cromwell.

He married twice:firstly by 1534, Barbara, the daughter of Thomas West, 8th Lord la Warr, with whom he had six sons (including Thomas) and six daughters and, secondly, Mary, the daughter of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton, Northamptonshire, and the widow of John Shelley of Michelgrove, Sussex, with whom he had another son.

Notes