John Champneys

Sir John Champneys (1495–1556) was City of London Sheriff in 1522 and Lord Mayor of London in 1534, when he was knighted.[2]

John Champneys Kt
Coat of Arms of Sir John Champneys. Per pale argent and sable, within a bordure engrailed counterchanged a lion rampant gules.[1]
Lord Mayor of London
In office 1534–1535
Monarch	Henry VIII
Preceded by	Sir Christopher Askew
Succeeded by	Sir John Alleyn (mercer)
Sheriff of London
In office 1522–1523
Monarch	Henry VIII
Preceded by	Thomas Pargiter
Succeeded by	Michael English
Personal details
Born	1495
Died	3 October 1556 (aged 60–61)
Resting place	St Mary the Virgin, Bexley, UK 51.4402°N 0.153729°E
Spouse(s)	Margaret Murfyn Meriel Barret
Children	Francis Clement Justinian

Life

A merchant, Champneys began the building of Hall Place, Bexley, in about 1537. The son of Robert Champneys of Chew Magna, Somerset, he was a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners. A contemporary chronicler, John Stow, noted that he was blind in later life: a divine judgment for having added 'a high tower of brick' to his house in Mincing Lane, 'the first that I ever heard of in any private man's house, to overlook his neighbours in this city.'[3]

He married twice. His first wife was Margaret (died by 1515), daughter of Thomas Murfyn, and widow of Roger Hall.[3][4] His second wife was Merial Barret (died 1534) by whom he had three sons:

• Francis
• Clement
• Justinian[3][5]

He died on 3 October 1556 and was buried on 8 October at St Mary the Virgin, Bexley.[3][6]

See also

• List of Sheriffs of the City of London
• List of Lord Mayors of London

Notes

1. Wadmore 1881, p. 138.
2. Beaven II 1913, p. 26.
3. Betteridge 2006.
4. Vere-Hodge 1953, p. 30.
5. Hyde 1981.
6. Machyn 1848, p. 115.

References

• Beaven, Alfred B. (1913). The Aldermen of the City of London. II. London: Corporation of the City of London. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
• Betteridge, Tom (September 2006) [First Published 2004]. "Champneys, John (d. in or after 1559), religious radical". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5096. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Hyde, Patricia (1981). "Champnoies, Justinian (c.1562-1622), of Wrotham, Kent". In Hasler, P. W. (ed.). Members. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1558–1603. Historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
• Machyn, Henry (1848). Nichols, John Gough (ed.). The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant–Taylor of London, from A. D. 1550 to A. D. 1563. [Camden Society. Publications]. XLII. Edited by John Gough Nichols. London, UK: Camden Society by J.B. Nichols and Son.
• Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Champneys, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Vere-Hodge, H. S. (1953). Sir Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London 1550-1551, Mayor of the Staple of Calais, six times Master of the Skinners Company, Founder of Tonbridge School 1553. Tonbridge School Shop.
• Wadmore, J. F. (1881). "Some Account of the History and Antiquities of the Worshipful Company of Skinners, London". Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. London: J. H. & J. Parker. 5: 92−182. Retrieved 12 May 2020.