Family and Education

s. of Thomas Kervyn, draper and alderman of Coventry (d.1584).

Offices Held

Sheriff, Coventry 1558-9, alderman, mayor 1567.

Biography

The Kervyns were prominent in Coventry throughout the sixteenth century. Kervyn himself was a mercer, and took part in the town government of Coventry over a long period. In 1581 he was appointed, with five other former mayors, to survey the bounds of the city. For the town’s musters in 1584, he was ordered to contribute a third share towards the provision of a light horse. During the 1597 Parliament the Coventry Members were appointed to committees dealing with forestallers (7 Nov.), cloth (18 Nov., 9 Dec.) and maltsters (12, Jan. 1598). The date of Kervyn’s death is unknown. The will of a Henry Kervyn was proved at Lichfield in 1606.

T. W. Whitley, Parl. Rep. Coventry, 63; B. Poole, Coventry, 371; Recs. Guild of the Holy Trinity, St. Mary, St. John and St. Katherine, Coventry, ed. Templeman (Dugdale Soc. 1944), ii. app. 1; Coventry Leet Bk. ed. Harris, iii. 821, 831; Harl. 175, f. 75; D’Ewes, 552, 558, 570, 578; Lichfield Wills, 1516-1652 (British Rec. Soc. Index Lib.), 265.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: R.C.G.

Notes