Ambrose Jermyn

Sir Ambrose Jermyn (1511 – 5 April 1577) of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, was an English courtier, magistrate and landowner.[1]

Arms of Jermyn: Sable, a crescent between two mullets in pale argent

Origins

He was the son of Sir Thomas Jermyn (died 1552) of Rushbrooke by his wife Anne Spring, the eldest daughter of Thomas Spring of Lavenham, Suffolk.[2]

Career

He inherited his father's Rushbrooke Hall estate following his death in 1552. A fervent Roman Catholic, he was knighted by Queen Mary I and served as a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk. In this role he was a notable prosecutor and persecutor of Protestants across East Anglia until the accession of Queen Elizabeth I.[3] He served as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1558 and 1572.

Marriage and children

In 1538 he married Anne Heveningham, daughter of George Heveningham of Rushbrooke, by whom he had thirteen children, including:

• Sir Robert Jermyn, eldest surviving son and heir, a Protestant magistrate.[4] His will was proved in May 1577.[5]
• Susan Jermyn, wife of Lyonell Tollemache of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, and mother of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1st Baronet (1562–c. 1620).

References

1. An account of Sir Ambrose Jermyn and his family is given by S.H.A. Hervey, Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567-1850 (George Booth, Woodbridge 1903), pp. 198-207 (Internet Archive).
2. http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-21_ff_83-4.pdf
3. Patrick Collinson, From Cranmer to Sancroft: Essays on English Religion in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (A&C Black, 16 Jul 2007), p.33.
4. Patrick Collinson, 'Magistracy and Ministry: A Suffolk Miniature' in Godly People: Essays On English Protestantism and Puritanism (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1983), p.449.
5. Will of Sir Ambrose Jermyn (P.C.C. 1577, Daughtry quire). Transcript in Hervey, Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567-1850, pp. 143-46 (Internet Archive).