HUNGERFORD, Sir Anthony (by 1492-1558), of Down Ampney, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1553

Family and Education

b. by 1492, 1st s. of Sir John Hungerford of Down Ampney by Margaret, da. of Edward Blount of Mangotsfield. m. (1) c.1515, Jane, da. of Sir Edward Darrell of Littlecote, Wilts., 5s. inc. Edward and John ?da.; (2) Dorothy, da. of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, Wilts., wid. of John Fettiplace (d.1524) of East Shefford, Berks., 2s. 2da.; at least 3 other ch. Kntd. ?13 Oct. 1513; suc. fa. 1524.1

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. 1514, 1528-d., Som. 1531-43, Oxon. 1531-40, Wilts. 1531-d., Berks. 1544-7; commr. subsidy, Glos., Wilts. 1523, 1524, musters, Wilts. 1539, chantries, Glos. 1548, relief Berks., Glos., Wilts. 1550, goods of churches and fraternities, Wilts. 1553; sheriff, Wilts. 1527-8, 1538-9, 1544-5, 1556-7, Oxon. and Berks. 1536-7, Glos. 1553-4; bailiff and parker, Chilton Foliat, Wilts. 1539; keeper, Hungerford park, Berks. 1552.2

Biography

One of the numerous branches of the Hungerford family had been established in Down Ampney on the Wiltshire border of Gloucestershire since the 13th century. In addition to his entailed property, Sir John Hungerford owned lordships in Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. The fact that his wife had Seymour blood in her veins perhaps had some influence on the early career of his son Anthony. The family pedigree includes a younger brother of Sir John also called Anthony, of whom little is known, but who can be distinguished from his nephew since he was not knighted.3

The younger Anthony Hungerford perhaps had some training in law at the Inner Temple since his son and heir was to be admitted there before 1534. He received his knighthood after the taking of Tournai where he seems to have been associated with his kinsman, Sir John Seymour. Hungerford’s father was assessed for the subsidy of 1523 on goods in Gloucestershire worth £400, and he himself on lands in Wiltshire worth £30. After succeeding to his inheritance in the following year, he was prominent at court on ceremonial occasions; he was a servitor at the coronation of Anne Boleyn and carried one of the 12 banners of descents at the funeral of Henry VIII. Writing to Cromwell in 1536 asking for a priory in Wiltshire he stated that he had ten sons to provide for. In 1540 he bought for £1,935 four manors in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. His second marriage, connecting him with leading Berkshire gentry, seems to be reflected in the inclusion of his name in the commissions for that county. Hungerford was mustered with the army in the north in 1536, under the 3rd Duke of Norfolk with the army for France in 1544, and on the Scottish border in 1544 as a captain with 100 men under the Earl of Hertford.4

A Star Chamber case soon after 1550 reveals Hungerford’s attachment to the Brydges family. He was accused, as a justice, of protecting John Boller of Highworth in Wiltshire, a friend of Sir John Brydges, who had refused to obey the order of the Privy Council for the removal of altars. Hungerford’s attitude was attributed to his blind affection towards his ‘cousin’ Brydges, to whom he was related by his first marriage. Hungerford was also accused of failing to prosecute a local felon who was in the retinue of Brydges’ son Sir Edmund. Hungerford was a strong candidate for election in his own right, but it was probably his close association with the Brydges family which explains his return with (Sir) Edmund Brydges as a knight of the shire to Mary’s first Parliament. Hungerford was pricked sheriff during the second session.5

In 1557 Hungerford had licence to retain 20 persons above his daily household. He died on 18 Nov. in the following year, and was buried the next day. His will, made on 31 Aug., mentions seven sons and seven daughters. He left silver cups, sheep or sums of money to a large number of persons including godchildren, several of whom had been christened after him. Certain manors in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire were bequeathed to his son Edmund, and others to his wife for life. He named his wife and his eldest son John executors.6

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: M. K. Dale

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from first reference. Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 88; Longleat, Hungerford colls. by Jackson, iv. f. 311; LP Hen. VIII, i, iv; PCC 25 Bodfelde, 4 Thower.
  • 2. LP Hen. VIII, i, iii-v, viii, xi-xxi; CPR, 1547-8, pp. 76, 81, 83, 91; 1548-9, p. 136; 1550-3, p. 396; 1553, pp. 351, 354, 359, 415; 1553-4, pp. 17, 25, 27; Stowe 571, f. 59.
  • 3. Jackson, ff. 144-7; Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. xxx. 42-43; xlvii. 2-6.
  • 4. Cal. I.T. Recs. i. 106; LP Hen. VIII, i, iii-iv, vi, x, xv, xviii; E179/113/215; Strype, Eccles. Memorials, ii(2), 301; HMC Bath, iv. 67, 71.
  • 5. St.Ch.3/5/77.
  • 6. Coll. Top. et Gen. vii. 71-72; PCC 31 Stonard; E150/999/23.