Spring family

The Spring family is a Suffolk gentry family that has been involved in the politics and economy of East Anglia since the 15th century, and held large estates in Ireland from the 16th century.

It is believed that the Springs are descended from Norman knights who arrived in England following the Norman invasion of 1066. The earliest recording of the family is in 1311 in northern England, where Sir Henry Spring was lord of the manor at a place that would become known as Houghton-le-Spring. The family first came to prominence in the town of Lavenham in Suffolk, where they were important merchants in the cloth and wool trade during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At the height of the wool trade in the late 15th century, the Springs were one of the richest families in England. The family owned over two dozen manor houses in the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex, including Cockfield Hall, which they built in the 16th century, and Newe House. The most successful of the Spring merchants was Thomas Spring (c. 1474–1523), who was the first member of the Suffolk Springs to hold public office, although an ancestor of Thomas Spring, John Spring, had been a Member of Parliament for Northampton in the early 15th century. Thomas Spring gave substantial funds for the construction of St Peter and St Paul's Church, Lavenham, where he lies buried.

Over following generations, the Springs firmly established themselves as nobility in Suffolk. This was partly facilitated through a series of advantageous marriages to powerful local families, such as the Waldegraves, Jermyns and de Veres. Additionally, successive generations of the family held public office, representing Suffolk in the House of Commons and occupying the role of High Sheriff of Suffolk. Despite being relations of the Yorkist George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, the Springs were supporters of the House of Lancaster throughout the Wars of the Roses, reflected by the grant of arms to the family by Henry VI.Sir John Spring (d.1549) was knighted by Henry VII and aided the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk in suppressing the Lavenham revolt of 1525. His son, Sir William, became High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1578 having served as MP for Suffolk and was knighted by Elizabeth I. His grandson was knighted by James I, also serving as MP and High Sheriff of Suffolk. During this period, the Springs were committed Puritans and under their patronage Cockfield became a centre for Puritan thought and activity.

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