William Coffin (courtier)

Sir William Coffin (by 1492-8 December 1538) was a courtier at the court of King Henry VIII of England. He was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VIII and Master of the Horse to Queen Jane Seymour. He was elected MP for Derbyshire in 1529.

He was born circa 1495 at the ancestral manor of Portledge, in the parish of Alwington in North Devon. He was the younger son of Richard Coffin (1456–1523) of Alwington and Heanton Punchardon in North Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1510, by his first wife Alice Gambon, daughter of John Gambon of Moorstone in Devon.

Sir William lived during the reign of Henry VIII, and was often seen at his court. He joined Henry VIII's household about 1515 as courtier and Gentleman of the Privy chamber, a post of great confidence and trust. There were 40 of these, and their duty was to wait on the king in public and private; they were all knights or esquires of distinction, and the attendance of two was required at each meal, to help and serve the king; they had also to sleep within call of the king at night.

In 1519, Sir William Coffin joined King Henry in the tournament of Guesnes, Field of the Cloth of Gold, as one of His Majesty's eighteen favourites. After Anne Boleyn's beheading, Sir William continued to serve in the king's Privy Chamber and as an attendant to His Majesty. He served the King's third wife, Jane Seymour, just as he had served Queen Anne.

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