Sir Anthony Wingfield (died 15 Aug 1552) MP KG PC of Letheringham, Suffolk, was an English soldier, politician, courtier and member of parliament. He was the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk from 1551 to 1552, and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in the reign of Edward VI.
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Anthony was born before 1488, the first son of Sir John Wingfield of Letheringham and Anne, daughter of John Tuchet, 6th Lord Audley.[1] By 1509 he had been appointed an esquire of the body, and attended the funeral of Henry VII and knighted in 1513.
By 1528 he had married Elizabeth[2], daughter of Sir George Vere and sister of John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford; they had seven sons and three daughters. His five surviving sons were Robert, Charles, Anthony, Henry and Richard (of Wantisden, Suffolk, who married Mary Hardwick, the daughter and co-heiress of John Hardwick of Derby)
Wingfield first saw active service in the first war of Henry VIII's reign, fighting at the battle of Tournai in 1513. For his part in the capture of this town he was knighted. He attended the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, and served in the 1523 French campaign of Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk; and lastly in the 1544 capture of Boulogne.
By 1539 Wingfield was a member of the Privy Council and administrator in Henry VIII's royal household. Wingfield was made a Knight of the Garter on St George's Day 1541[3]. When the King died in 1547, Wingfield served as an assistant executor; was bequeathed £200;[4] and led the guard at the funeral procession. Wingfield remained a member of the Council during the protectorate of Somerset. However, after the fall of the Protectorate in October 1549, it was Wingfield that the Council sent to Windsor to arrest Somerset, and bring him to the Tower.[5]
Wingfield served as the Member for Parliament for Suffolk (1529, 1536, 1539, and probably 1542). Whilst serving in Boulogne, he was returned as MP for Horsham in 1545; and finally served again for Suffolk in 1547.[6]
On the 28th of August 1551, Sir Anthony, along with the then Lord Chancellor Richard Rich and Sir William Petre went to Copt Hall in Essex to order Princess Mary Tudor and her household to stop hearing the Catholic Mass. Wingfield was sent to replace Mary's Comptroller Robert Rochester who was removed by Edward's Council for refusing to order Mary to cease hearing Mass.
Wingfield died on 15 August 1552 in Bethnal Green, and was buried a week later in Stepney.[7]
History of Parliament 1509-1558 ed. S.T. Bindoff, The House of Commons, 1509-1558, 3 vols (Secker & Warburg, London, 1982), vol 3, pp 638-640. [1].
History of Parliament text transcribed in full at www.tudorplace.com.ar.
Powerscourt, Muniments of the Ancient Saxon Family of Wingfield, 1894. pp29-30.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Kingston |
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1539–1550 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Darcy |