Sir John Fitzjames was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...

 from 1526 until 1539.

Sir John was a nephew of Richard Fitzjames

Richard FitzJames

Richard FitzJames was a medieval Bishop of Rochester, Bishop of Chichester and Bishop of London.FitzJames was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in 1481 and 1491....

, Bishop of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

 during the Hunne

Richard Hunne

Richard Hunne was a merchant tailor with Lollard sympathies. He was charged with heresy in London in 1514.-Life:In March 1511, Hunne refused to pay the standard mortuary fee, the baby's christening robe, to the rector of St. Mary Matfelon in Whitechapel after the funeral of his dead baby...

 case. Sir John had also been Recorder of Bristol, Attorney-General

Attorney General for England and Wales

Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...

 and Chief Baron of the Exchequer.

When in July 1535 the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....

, wanted to halt the export of coin he decided to consult Fitzjames on whether a proclamation

Proclamation

A proclamation is an official declaration.-England and Wales:In English law, a proclamation is a formal announcement , made under the great seal, of some matter which the King in Council or Queen in Council desires to make known to his or her subjects: e.g., the declaration of war, or state of...

 could be used for this. Cromwell asked him what the King could do if "there wer no law nor statute made alreadye for any suche purpose", to which Fitzjames replied that a proclamation was "of as good effecte as any law made by parlyament or otherwyse". Cromwell was "veray gladde to here" Fitzjames' answer.

When the Reformation Parliament was prorogued in 1536 Fitzjames was rewarded £40 by the King.