FULMERSTON, Richard (by 1516-67), of Thetford, Norf.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1553
Apr. 1554
Nov. 1554

Family and Education

b. by 1516, ?s. of Richard Fulmerston. m. by 1539, Alice Lonzam, wid. of Thomas Heyward of Ipswich, Suff., 1da. Kntd. 1560.1

Offices Held

Steward to Henry, Earl of Surrey c.1538-44; commr. gaol delivery, Norwich castle 1540; troner and peiser at Ipswich 1545; warden of King’s bench c.1548; marshal of the marshalsea of Queen’s bench; chantry commr. Norf. and Suff. 1548; comptroller of Duke of Somerset’s household c.1548-52; treasurer to 4th Duke of Norfolk from 1558; j.p.q. Norf. from c.1559.2

Biography

Fulmerston’s family, which presumably came from the Norfolk village of Fulmodeston, had a long connexion with the Howard dukes of Norfolk, but after the fall of the 3rd Duke in 1546, Fulmerston transferred to the service of the Protector Somerset. Early in Mary’s reign he was one of the protestant group who ‘stood for the true religion’ in the Parliament of October 1553, but the help he had given her at her accession, and his personal loyalty to her throughout, may have led to a reconciliation with the Howards.

By 1558 he was treasurer to the 4th Duke of Norfolk, who had him returned at New Shoreham to Elizabeth’s first Parliament. He accompanied Norfolk to the Scottish borders, and was knighted by him at Berwick 24 July 1560. In 1563 he was returned at Thetford where he held the lease of the borough. For the second session he was unsuccessfully recommended by the Duke of Norfolk for a county seat. He died 3 Feb. 1567, his lands going to his only child Frances, the wife of Edward Clere, to whom in his will, made 14 Jan. 1567, he bequeathed two-thirds of his goods, the remaining third going to his stepson and servant Thomas Heyward. Provision was made for the children of his kinsman Thomas Fulmerston of Lopham, and for his godsons. He also left money to endow a preacher at St. Mary the Less, Thetford, and funds to found a grammar school. The executors, who included the Duke of Norfolk and John Blennerhasset, renounced probate, and the will was proved by Edward and Frances Clere on 21 Nov. 1567. The Thetford grammar school was not established until after Clere’s death in 1606.3

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Roger Virgoe

Notes

  • 1. Add. 19130, f. 277; Vis. Norf. (Harl. Soc. xxviii), 153.
  • 2. LP Hen. VIII, xvi. 139; xx(1), p. 415; xxi(2), pp. 280-2; Egerton 2815; CPR, 1547-8, p. 211; 1569-72, p. 450; APC, ii. 556; CSP For. 1572-4, p. 351.
  • 3. LP Hen. VIII, xii(1), p. 574; xx(1), p. 351; xxi(2), p. 280; Bodl. e Museo, 17; APC, iv. 431; CPR, 1553-4, p. 301; Bodl. Douce 393, f. 94; C142/145/45; PCC 33 Stonard.