Richard Weston (treasurer)

Sir Richard Weston, (representative image, not portrait) drawn by Sir Thomas Wriothesley in 1509, attending deathbed of King Henry VII. (Detail from: British Library Additional MS 45131, folio 54)

Arms of Weston: Ermine, on a chief azure 5 bezants

Sir Richard Weston KB (1465–1541) was Governor of Guernsey, Treasurer of Calais and Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer during the reign of King Henry VIII of England.

Weston was the son of Edmund Weston of Boston in Lincolnshire. He became a courtier at the court of Henry VII, but particularly rose to power during the reign of his son, Henry VIII. He was appointed Governor of Guernsey in 1509, Treasurer of Calais in 1525 and Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer in 1528. His main residences were Cranbourne Lodge (where he was the keeper) and Ufton Court, both in Berkshire, and then Sutton Place, Surrey. The last two being granted to him by the King. he served as knight of the shire for Berkshire in 1529. ^[1]

Sir Richard Weston at the deathbed of King Henry VII at Richmond Palace, 1509. He stands 5th. at the King's left hand, his armourials above. It is said he engineered a 2 day suppression of the event from the public, for Tudor dynastic reasons

Weston's only son, Sir Francis Weston, was arrested as one of the alleged lovers of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. The father is said to have offered all the family had to gain his son a pardon, but Sir Francis was executed in 1536.

References

• Dictionary of National Biography, Weston, Sir Richard (1466?–1542), courtier and diplomatist, by Ernest Clarke. Published 1899.

External links

• Royal Berkshire History: Sir Richard Weston (1465-1541)