John Gresham
Encyclopedia
Sir John Gresham was an English
merchant
, courtier
and financier
who worked for King Henry VIII of England
, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He was Lord Mayor of London
and founded Gresham's School
.
, in Norfolk
, and was descended from an old Norfolk
family (see section 'Gresham Family', below). Biographers have suggested that he probably attended a school kept by Augustinian canons
at nearby Beeston Regis
. At that time, England
was a Roman Catholic country and was largely dependent on the church for education.
In about 1510, Gresham was apprenticed to John Middleton, a London
mercer, and after serving his seven years he was admitted as a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers
. In 1519, he and his older brother William Gresham were both elected to the livery of the company. Later, John Gresham was four times Master of the Mercers' Company
Gresham was in partnership with his brother, Richard Gresham
, in the export of textiles and in importing grain from Germany and wine from Bordeaux
. He also imported traded in silks and spices from the Ottoman Empire
and imported timber and skins from the Baltic
. He founded the Russia Company to trade with Russia
. Meanwhile, he acted as an agent for Cardinal Wolsey, and through him knew Thomas Cromwell.
Gresham invested his money in land, buying the manors of Titsey, Tatsfield, Westerham, and Lingfield on the borders of Surrey
and Kent
, as well as properties in Norfolk
and Buckinghamshire
. He lived at a great house called Titsey Place at Oxted
in Surrey
from 1534 until his death.
Gresham was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1537–1538 and at the same time was knighted. He was a member of the Royal household between 1527 and 1550, first as a 'gentleman pensioner' and later as one of the 'esquires of the body' of King Henry VIII
. In 1539, the king granted Gresham the manor of Sanderstead
in Surrey
, following the dissolution of the monasteries: it had previously belonged to the Minster of Winchester
since the year 962.
In 1541, Gresham was one of the jurors who tried Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham
for treason - that is, intimacy with Queen Catherine Howard
. Both were duly beheaded at Tyburn
on 10 December 1541, and their heads were put on display on London Bridge
. Queen Catherine Howard
was subsequently executed on 13 February 1542.
In 1546, he was one of the King's commissioners to survey the properties of chantries
to be dissolved in Surrey
and Sussex
.
In 1547, Sir John Gresham became Lord Mayor of London
, and after the end of his term of office continued to serve as an alderman
.
In 1555, a year before his death, he founded Gresham's School
in the town of his birth, Holt
in Norfolk
. Gresham endowed the school with land and money and placed these endowments in the care of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
, which has continued to carry out his trust to the present day.
Gresham died on 23 October 1556, ‘of a profuse fever’ and was given "a very grand and very papistical funeral". His tomb is in the City of London
church of St Michael Bassishaw.
family, his ancestor in the male line being Ralph de Braunche, one of the knights of William the Conqueror
who fought at the Battle of Hastings
(1066) under William de Warenne
and was later granted lands in Norfolk
which included the manor of Gresham
, a descendant changing his name to "de Gresham". While evidence for this is lacking, it seems very likely that the manor of Gresham is indeed the ancestral home of the Gresham family, and a branch of the family was established at Holt
by the fifteenth century. According to Francis Blomefield in An essay towards a topographical history of the county of Norfolk (1808), James Gresham, the grandfather of Sir John Gresham, was "the son of John Gresham, Gent., of Gresham".
A John Gresham was baptized in 1340 at Aylmerton
, Norfolk, and died there in 1410, owning property in Aylmerton and an interest in the manor of Holt
. His son John Gresham was born in 1390 and died in 1450. In 1414, he was living at Holt. His son, James Gresham, of Holt
, Norfolk
, Lord of the Manor
of East Beckham
, lived from 1442 to 1497, and his son John Gresham of Holt married Alice Blyth and was the father of Sir John Gresham.
Gresham had brothers called William and Richard
. The latter became Sir Richard Gresham and was also a Lord Mayor of London
in 1537; he was the father of the famous Sir Thomas Gresham
who founded the Royal Exchange and Gresham College
, both in the City of London
.
Sir John Gresham married twice: firstly, in 1521, Mary Ipswell, with whom he had twelve children between 1522 and 1538, and secondly, after Mary's death, Catherine Sampson, the widow of Edward Dormer, on 15 July 1553.
Gresham's eldest son, William Gresham (1512–1579), was the father of Sir Thomas Gresham of Titsey (died 1630), whose sons were Sir John Gresham of Titsey (1588–1643) and Sir Edward Gresham of Titsey (1594–1647). The latter's son, Sir Marmaduke Gresham of Limpsfield (1627–1696), was created a baronet in 1660.
The 17th century Greshams sat as Members of Parliament, loyally supported King Charles I
throughout the Civil War
, and suffered from the victory of Cromwell
. In 1643 the house at Titsey was commandeered by the Parliamentarians, but at the time of the Restoration
in 1660 the new King Charles II
created the head of the family, Marmaduke Gresham, a baronet
as a reward for the family's support for the Royalist cause. This title died out with Sir John Gresham, sixth and last Baronet, of Limpsfield (who died in 1801). However, the last Sir John Gresham's daughter and heiress, Katherine Maria Gresham, married William Leveson-Gower, first cousin of the Marquess of Stafford, later the first Duke of Sutherland
, and through Katherine Maria the Titsey estate continued to be owned by Sir John Gresham's descendants until the death of Thomas Leveson Gower in 1992. By his will, Leveson Gower set up the Titsey Foundation, a charitable trust with the aim of preserving the estate for the benefit of the nation.
Nevertheless, the first Sir John Gresham's line continues in the descendants of his third son, another John Gresham, who was the ancestor of the Greshams of Fulham, Albury, and Haslemere. He was also the maternal grandfather of the Elizabethan English Ambassador to France, Henry Neville.
in his home town of Holt
, Norfolk
, placing its endowments under the stewardship of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
, which has continued to carry out the task entrusted to it until the present day.
The grasshopper is the crest above Sir John Gresham's coat of arms. It can be seen at Titsey Place, his country house, and is used by Gresham's School
, which he founded. It can also be seen as the weathervane on the Royal Exchange
in the City of London
, founded in 1565 by Gresham's nephew Sir Thomas Gresham
. Gresham's original Royal Exchange building (destroyed in the Great Fire of London
of 1666) was profusely decorated with grasshoppers. The grasshopper is also used as a symbol by Gresham College
in the City of London
, which Sir Thomas
also established.
According to an ancient legend of the Greshams, the founder of the family, Roger de Gresham, was a foundling abandoned as a new-born baby in long grass in North Norfolk
in the 13th century and found there by a woman whose attention was drawn to the child by a grasshopper. A beautiful story, it is more likely that the grasshopper is simply an heraldic
rebus
on the name Gresham, with gres being a Middle English form of grass (Old English
grœs).
In the system of English heraldry, the grasshopper is said to represent wisdom and nobility.
The Gresham family motto
is Fiat voluntas tua ('Thy will be done').
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
who worked for King Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He was Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
and founded Gresham's School
Gresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
.
Life
Gresham was probably born in 1495, at HoltHolt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
, in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, and was descended from an old Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
family (see section 'Gresham Family', below). Biographers have suggested that he probably attended a school kept by Augustinian canons
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
at nearby Beeston Regis
Beeston Regis
Beeston Regis is a village and civil parish in the North Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It is about a mile east of Sheringham, Norfolk and near the coast. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,091...
. At that time, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was a Roman Catholic country and was largely dependent on the church for education.
In about 1510, Gresham was apprenticed to John Middleton, a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
mercer, and after serving his seven years he was admitted as a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers
Worshipful Company of Mercers
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in order of precedence. It is the first of the so-called "Great Twelve City Livery Companies". It was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1394...
. In 1519, he and his older brother William Gresham were both elected to the livery of the company. Later, John Gresham was four times Master of the Mercers' Company
Gresham was in partnership with his brother, Richard Gresham
Richard Gresham
Sir Richard Gresham was an English merchant, Lord Mayor of London, and member of parliament. He was the father of Sir Thomas Gresham.-Family:...
, in the export of textiles and in importing grain from Germany and wine from Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
. He also imported traded in silks and spices from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and imported timber and skins from the Baltic
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
. He founded the Russia Company to trade with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Meanwhile, he acted as an agent for Cardinal Wolsey, and through him knew Thomas Cromwell.
Gresham invested his money in land, buying the manors of Titsey, Tatsfield, Westerham, and Lingfield on the borders of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, as well as properties in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
and Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
. He lived at a great house called Titsey Place at Oxted
Oxted
Oxted is a commuter town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, north of East Grinstead and south-east of Croydon.- History :The town lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
from 1534 until his death.
Gresham was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1537–1538 and at the same time was knighted. He was a member of the Royal household between 1527 and 1550, first as a 'gentleman pensioner' and later as one of the 'esquires of the body' of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. In 1539, the king granted Gresham the manor of Sanderstead
Sanderstead
Sanderstead is a village in London Borough of Croydon, located on high ground at the edge of the built-up area of Greater London. From 1915 to 1965 it formed a parish in the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District of Surrey. Having been a farming community in previous centuries, Sanderstead is now...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, following the dissolution of the monasteries: it had previously belonged to the Minster of Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
since the year 962.
In 1541, Gresham was one of the jurors who tried Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham
Francis Dereham
Francis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII's fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth was a principal cause of the Queen's execution.-Life:...
for treason - that is, intimacy with Queen Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
. Both were duly beheaded at Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
on 10 December 1541, and their heads were put on display on London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
. Queen Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
was subsequently executed on 13 February 1542.
In 1546, he was one of the King's commissioners to survey the properties of chantries
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
to be dissolved in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
In 1547, Sir John Gresham became Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
, and after the end of his term of office continued to serve as an alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
.
In 1555, a year before his death, he founded Gresham's School
Gresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
in the town of his birth, Holt
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. Gresham endowed the school with land and money and placed these endowments in the care of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London, being a guild of the sellers of fish and seafood in the City...
, which has continued to carry out his trust to the present day.
Gresham died on 23 October 1556, ‘of a profuse fever’ and was given "a very grand and very papistical funeral". His tomb is in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
church of St Michael Bassishaw.
The Gresham Family
It has been claimed that Sir John Gresham belonged to a NormanNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
family, his ancestor in the male line being Ralph de Braunche, one of the knights of William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
who fought at the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
(1066) under William de Warenne
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey
William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, Seigneur de Varennes is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066...
and was later granted lands in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
which included the manor of Gresham
Gresham, Norfolk
Gresham is a village and civil parish in North Norfolk, England, five miles south-west of Cromer.A predominantly rural parish, Gresham centres on its medieval church of All Saints. The village also once had a square 14th century castle, a watermill and a windmill...
, a descendant changing his name to "de Gresham". While evidence for this is lacking, it seems very likely that the manor of Gresham is indeed the ancestral home of the Gresham family, and a branch of the family was established at Holt
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
by the fifteenth century. According to Francis Blomefield in An essay towards a topographical history of the county of Norfolk (1808), James Gresham, the grandfather of Sir John Gresham, was "the son of John Gresham, Gent., of Gresham".
A John Gresham was baptized in 1340 at Aylmerton
Aylmerton
Aylmerton is a village in the county of Norfolk, England. It is in the area of North Norfolk and lies south of the North Sea, south-west of Cromer and west of Holt. The parish is bordered by the parishes of Beeston Regis and Runton to the north, West Beckham to the west, Felbrigg to the east and...
, Norfolk, and died there in 1410, owning property in Aylmerton and an interest in the manor of Holt
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
. His son John Gresham was born in 1390 and died in 1450. In 1414, he was living at Holt. His son, James Gresham, of Holt
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of East Beckham
East Beckham
East Beckham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is north of Norwich, south-west of Cromer and miles north-east of London. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the national rail network can be made via the Bittern Line...
, lived from 1442 to 1497, and his son John Gresham of Holt married Alice Blyth and was the father of Sir John Gresham.
Gresham had brothers called William and Richard
Richard Gresham
Sir Richard Gresham was an English merchant, Lord Mayor of London, and member of parliament. He was the father of Sir Thomas Gresham.-Family:...
. The latter became Sir Richard Gresham and was also a Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1537; he was the father of the famous Sir Thomas Gresham
Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sisters, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I.-Family and childhood:...
who founded the Royal Exchange and Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
, both in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
.
Sir John Gresham married twice: firstly, in 1521, Mary Ipswell, with whom he had twelve children between 1522 and 1538, and secondly, after Mary's death, Catherine Sampson, the widow of Edward Dormer, on 15 July 1553.
Descendants of Sir John Gresham
The twelve children of John and Mary Gresham were William, Mary, Catherine, James, John, Edmund, Anthony, Ellen, Ursula, Cecily, Elizabeth and Richard. Most of them died without issue, but the senior line of Gresham's descendants continued until the early nineteenth century.Gresham's eldest son, William Gresham (1512–1579), was the father of Sir Thomas Gresham of Titsey (died 1630), whose sons were Sir John Gresham of Titsey (1588–1643) and Sir Edward Gresham of Titsey (1594–1647). The latter's son, Sir Marmaduke Gresham of Limpsfield (1627–1696), was created a baronet in 1660.
The 17th century Greshams sat as Members of Parliament, loyally supported King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
throughout the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, and suffered from the victory of Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
. In 1643 the house at Titsey was commandeered by the Parliamentarians, but at the time of the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
in 1660 the new King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
created the head of the family, Marmaduke Gresham, a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
as a reward for the family's support for the Royalist cause. This title died out with Sir John Gresham, sixth and last Baronet, of Limpsfield (who died in 1801). However, the last Sir John Gresham's daughter and heiress, Katherine Maria Gresham, married William Leveson-Gower, first cousin of the Marquess of Stafford, later the first Duke of Sutherland
George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland KG, PC , known as Viscount Trentham from 1758 to 1786, as Earl Gower from 1786 to 1803 and as The Marquess of Stafford from 1803 to 1833, was a British politician, diplomat, landowner and patron of the arts. He is estimated to have been the...
, and through Katherine Maria the Titsey estate continued to be owned by Sir John Gresham's descendants until the death of Thomas Leveson Gower in 1992. By his will, Leveson Gower set up the Titsey Foundation, a charitable trust with the aim of preserving the estate for the benefit of the nation.
Nevertheless, the first Sir John Gresham's line continues in the descendants of his third son, another John Gresham, who was the ancestor of the Greshams of Fulham, Albury, and Haslemere. He was also the maternal grandfather of the Elizabethan English Ambassador to France, Henry Neville.
Gresham's School
In 1555, shortly before his death, Gresham founded Gresham's SchoolGresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
in his home town of Holt
Holt, Norfolk
Holt is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town is on the route of the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, placing its endowments under the stewardship of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers is one of the 108 Livery Companies of the City of London, being a guild of the sellers of fish and seafood in the City...
, which has continued to carry out the task entrusted to it until the present day.
The Gresham Grasshopper
Gresham's School
Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
, which he founded. It can also be seen as the weathervane on the Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange (London)
The Royal Exchange in the City of London was founded in 1565 by Sir Thomas Gresham to act as a centre of commerce for the city. The site was provided by the City of London Corporation and the Worshipful Company of Mercers, and is trapezoidal, flanked by the converging streets of Cornhill and...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, founded in 1565 by Gresham's nephew Sir Thomas Gresham
Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sisters, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I.-Family and childhood:...
. Gresham's original Royal Exchange building (destroyed in the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
of 1666) was profusely decorated with grasshoppers. The grasshopper is also used as a symbol by Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, which Sir Thomas
Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sisters, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I.-Family and childhood:...
also established.
According to an ancient legend of the Greshams, the founder of the family, Roger de Gresham, was a foundling abandoned as a new-born baby in long grass in North Norfolk
North Norfolk
North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Its council is based in Cromer. The council headquarters can be found approximately out of the town of Cromer on the Holt Road.-History:...
in the 13th century and found there by a woman whose attention was drawn to the child by a grasshopper. A beautiful story, it is more likely that the grasshopper is simply an heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
rebus
Rebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
on the name Gresham, with gres being a Middle English form of grass (Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
grœs).
In the system of English heraldry, the grasshopper is said to represent wisdom and nobility.
The Gresham family motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
is Fiat voluntas tua ('Thy will be done').