Henry de Cornhill (sheriff)

Henry de Cornhill
Sheriff of London
In office 1187–1189
Sheriff of Surrey
In office c. 1189 – 1192
Sheriff of Kent
In office 1190–1192
Personal details
Born	Henry c. 1135
Died	c. 1193
Spouse(s)	Alice, daughter of William de Courcy
Children	Joan de Cornhill

Henry de Cornhill (c. 1135 – c. 1193) was a medieval English royal official and sheriff who served King Henry II of England. Henry's son King Richard I of England put him in charge of assembling part of the fleet for the Third Crusade, plus appointing him as sheriff of three jurisdictions. Through marriage he acquired lands in Somerset, Dorset, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire.

Henry de Cornhill was the eldest son of Gervase de Cornhill, a royal official and Sheriff of Kent, Surrey, and London during the reign of King Henry II. Henry de Cornhill was likely born around 1135. Henry married Alice, the daughter of William de Courcy, and sister and heiress of William de Courcy, lord of Stogursey in Somerset. Through this marriage, Henry acquired lands in Somerset, Dorset, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire worth 25 and a quarter knight's fees.

By 1175, Henry was a royal official in charge of purchasing cloth and other items for the royal household. He also was given custody of two estates that had escheated to the crown – Rayleigh in 1181 and Boulogne in 1183. Henry often acted as a purchaser for the king, for example in 1188 Cornhill spent 290 pounds on gold, jewels, furs, and cloth for the king. Henry was present at the deathbed of Henry II in 1189. The new king, Richard I, kept Henry close and put him in charge of assembling the fleet that Richard needed to go on the Third Crusade. His accounts for his efforts in 1190 in assembling the fleet still survive. These show that Henry bought part or all of 40 ships and paid out a year's wages for over a thousand sailors for the expedition. The total expenses for Henry's efforts totalled over 5,000 pounds.

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