Sir Ambrose Jermyn (1511 – 5 April 1577) of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, was an English courtier, magistrate and landowner.An account of Sir Ambrose Jermyn and his family is given by S.H.A. Hervey, Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567–1850 (George Booth, Woodbridge 1903), pp. 198–207 (Internet Archive).
Origins Jermyn was the son of Sir Thomas Jermyn (died 1552) of Rushbrooke and Anne Spring, the eldest daughter of Thomas Spring of Lavenham, Suffolk.Family Background oxford-shakespeare.com
Career Jermyn inherited his father's Rushbrooke Hall estate following the elder Jermyn's death in 1552. A fervent Roman Catholic, he was knighted by Queen Mary I and served as a Justice of the Peace in Suffolk. In this role he was a notable prosecutor and persecutor of Protestants across East Anglia until the accession of Queen Elizabeth I.Patrick Collinson, From Cranmer to Sancroft: Essays on English Religion in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (A&C Black, 16 Jul 2007), p.33. He served as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1558 and 1572.
Marriage and children In 1538 Jermyn married Anne Heveningham, daughter of George Heveningham of Rushbrooke, and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Burgoyne, the couple had thirteen children, including: Robert Jermyn, eldest surviving son and heir, a Protestant magistrate.Patrick Collinson, 'Magistracy and Ministry: A Suffolk Miniature' in Godly People: Essays On English Protestantism and Puritanism (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1983), p.449. His will was proved in May 1577.Will of Sir Ambrose Jermyn (P.C.C. 1577, Daughtry quire). Transcript in Hervey, Rushbrook Parish Registers 1567–1850, pp. 143–46 (Internet Archive). John Jermyn, husband of Mary Tollemache, and father of Thomas Jermyn. Susan Jermyn, wife of Lyonell Tollemache of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, and mother of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1st Baronet (1562–).
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