On this day in Tudor history, 10th August 1518, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Sir Robert Sheffield, lawyer and Speaker of the House of Commons, died.
Sheffield had been imprisoned in the Tower of London after making an enemy of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, being accused of negligence as a Justice of the Peace and of harbouring a killer. It is not clear whether he was still in the Tower at his death, but he was buried in the nearby church of the Austin friars.
Here are some facts about Sir Robert Sheffield:
- Sheffield's birthdate is unknown but he was the son of lawyer and administrator Robert Sheffield of South Cave, Yorkshire, and his wife, Jane Lounde, of Lincolnshire.
- Sheffield was educated at the Inner Temple, of which he became governor in 1511, and was Recorder of London from 1495 to 1508.
