Sir Richard Wentworth and 5th Baron le Despencer of the 1387 creation (c. 1480 – 1528) was an English nobleman who served as the Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk from 1509 to 1510, and later from 1516 to 1517.[1]
He died on 17 October 1528 and was buried at the church of the Greyfriars in Ipswich, by his will (dated 15th and proved 21 October).[1][3]: 22 [6]
Family
The Wentworths were originally from Yorkshire but a branch of the family had settled in Nettlestead, Suffolk, beginning with Richards great-grandfather Roger Westworth (d. 1452).[7][3]: XVI
Richard Wentworth, who had one brother and four sisters, was the oldest son of Henry Wentworth and Anne Say. He married Anne Tyrrell (d. 11. November 1529), the daughter of Sir James Tyrrell and Anne Arundel. He had five sons and three daughters, most notably, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth (1501 - 1551).[1][3]: 22
Heraldry
In Metcalfe's book of Knights banneret, Knights of the bath, and Knights bachelor, made between the fourth year of King Henry VI and the restoration of King Charles II are two differing entries for Richard Wentworth's heraldic achievements, for the two times he was knighted. The first time, for his 1509 knighting, his coat of arms are described as follows:[8]: 42
2) Divided into four quarters with the top left and bottom right quarters in Argent (silver), and the top right and bottom left quarters in Gules (red). Over the red and silver quarters is a Or (gold) interlacing fretty pattern. A black diagonal bend runs across this entire part with three Argent (silver) Mullets (stars with usually five sides and straight rays) placed on top.
Fretty (on the left), to be distinguished from masculy (middle) and fret (right)
3) Argent (silver) background, with a Gules (red) saltire (diagonal cross) that has an engrailed edge.
4) Divided into six horizontal stripes of equal width (Barry of six), that alternate between Or (gold) and Gules (red). A canton, a rectangle in the upper left corner, typically occupying about one-third of the top part of the shield, is filled with an Ermine pattern.
To that, the crest is described as a Or (golden) griffin in the passant position (depicted as walking with the right forepaw raised from the ground). When knighted for the second time, his coat of arms has become more detailed:[8]: 46