James Wilford

Sir James Wilford (about 1516–1550) was an English soldier and politician, who was commander at the Siege of Haddington in the war known as the Rough Wooing and also sat as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple.

He was the only son of Thomas Wilford (died 1553), a landowner at Hartridge in Kent, and his first wife Elizabeth (died by 1531), daughter of Walter Culpeper, of Bedgebury in Kent. His sister Cicely (died 1584) married Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, while his brother was the soldier and politician Sir Thomas Wilford (died 1610).

Wilford was a Provost Marshal at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10 September 1547 and was subsequently knighted.Ulpian Fulwell wrote of Sir James in his Flower of Fame (1575);

"He was so noble a capitaine, that he wonne the hartes of all Souldiers. He was in the towne among his Souldiers and friends, a gentle lamme. In the field amongst his enemies a Lyon.

Sir James was one of the captains who supervised the fortification at Lauder on the site of Thirlestane Castle in April 1548. Lord Grey of Wilton recommended him for the command of the English and Italian mercenary force occupying Haddington on 28 April. On 3 June 1548, Wilford and Thomas Wyndham captured Dalkeith Palace, burnt the town, and took prisoner James Douglas, the future Regent Morton. On 1 November 1548, Wilford wrote to Somerset describing the state of Haddington, with a garrison stricken by plague:

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