Sir Gilbert Debenham Jnr. | |
---|---|
Born | 1432 Little Wenham, Suffolk, England |
Died | 1500 |
Nationality | English |
Occupation | Knight, Politician |
Known for | Lord Chancellor of Ireland |
Sir Gilbert Debenham (junior) (1432–1500) was an English knight, politician and soldier who also served briefly as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Although like his father before him, he had a notorious reputation for lawlessness, the son flourished under Edward IV, due in part to his loyalty to Edward during the great political crisis of the years 1469–71. Under Henry VII he was attainted for treason and spent his last years in prison. He figures prominently in the Paston Letters.
He was born at Little Wenham in Suffolk, son of Sir Gilbert Debenham senior (c.1404–1481) who was justice of the peace, High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk for 1427, Member of Parliament and steward to the Mowbray Dukes of Norfolk.
Historians in general have had little good to say of either of the Debenhams, father or son. They have been called a "pair of thorough-going villains", with a reputation for "violent and thuggish behavior", although the son's reputation was perhaps somewhat better than that of his father, who was accused of corrupting the town governments of Ipswich and Colchester for his own profit.Edward IV's biographer notes that there were many similar characters in fifteenth-century England and that in return for their support the King was prepared to tolerate a great deal of lawless conduct on their part. Only when the younger Gilbert crossed the line into actual treason did a later King, Henry VII, bring him down.
Like his father, the younger Gilbert was in the service of John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk. He also obtained a royal office, the Clerk of the Market, in 1461. He sat in the House of Commons of England as member for Ipswich 1455–56 and was knighted about 1461.