Richard Rich - Historical Profile
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Historical Profile of Sir Richard Rich c.1496 - 1567 (approx 70 yrs old) "The most wretched creature"... |
INTERESTING FACTS:
Richard Rich Monument at Felstead Church Source: photographer, Mark Ynys-Mon. | Richard Rich's wife Elizabeth Jenks, Baroness Rich (1510-16 December 1558) was the daughter of William Jenks, a wealthy London spice merchant and grocer, and Elizabeth Adams. Sketch by Hans Holbein in Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. The two were married by May 1536. (with whom he had 15 children) Portrait of Lady Rich Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger (English, after 1536)
Richard Southwell (1504-1564) was one of Cromwell's most loyal and unscrupulous followers. As might be surmised from the somewhat cold and sinister expression on Southwell's face, he has come down to posterity as one of the most calculating and treacherous members of Henry VIII's court. He became a creature of Thomas Cromwell and was instrumental in aiding Richard Rich in his attempts to force the imprisoned Sir Thomas More to incriminate himself in 1532. Southwell also made accusations against a childhood friend, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, that led to the latter's execution. Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex employed him as a general factotum during the dissolution of the monasteries between 1536 and 1539. He was knighted (after Cromwell's downfall) in 1542. Southwell later abjured Protestantism, and thus found favour under Mary I (1553-58), but as a result he was shunned in Elizabeth's reign. He died c.1564.
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