John Spring of Lavenham

Sir John Spring, Lord of Liffey^[1] (c.1500-c.1549), of Lavenham, Hitcham, and Cockfield, was an English merchant and politician who inherited the Spring family cloth trading business upon his father’s death. He was knighted by Henry VII. Spring aided the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk in suppressing the Lavenham revolt of 1525, by removing the bells from the Church of St Peter and St Paul, meaning the rebels could not be called to arms.^[2]

John Spring was the son of Sir Thomas Spring. He married Dorothy Waldegrave, daughter of Sir William Waldegrave, and together they had three children:^[3]

William (married Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson), later knighted.
Frances (married Edmund Wright)
Bridget (married Sir Robert Wingfield)
Margaret (married Aubrey de Vere), grandmother to the Earl of Oxford

He is buried in Hitcham.

Sir John’s great-great-grandson was made a baronet by Charles I.

References

^ http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/walter-arthur-copinger/history-of-the-parish-of-buxhall-in-the-county-of-suffolk-with-twenty-four-full-ipo/page-18-history-of-the-parish-of-buxhall-in-the-county-of-suffolk-with-twenty-four-full-ipo.shtml
^ Rebellion in Tudor England, McCulloch
^ Stirnet, retrieved 2009-11-25, login required