Richard Fermor

A merchant of Welsh descent, Richard Fermor engaged in commerce in the Calais area, where for example, he was recorded as exporting large quantities of wheat and wool. Though he was described as a grocer, Fermor would turn his hand to anything where he could make a profit. He invested his profits in property and in July 1512, was granted several East Anglian manors which had belonged to the Earl of Suffolk. Subsequently, Fermor lived in a Northamptonshire manor and bought up estates in neighbouring counties.

But his zeal as a Catholic nearly proved his undoing. When Fermor's priest was imprisoned by Thomas Cromwell, Fermor visited him and gave him money and clothes. This act of generosity cost Fermor dear. He was imprisoned himself and after a trial at Westminster Hall, was stripped of all his property. He retired to a parsonage where he would no doubt have died quietly and impoverished but for the action of his jester, Will Somers, who had been transferred to the ·royal household. He mentioned Fermor's plight to Henry VIII, who expressed regret and directed that some reparation be made. In 1550, two years after Henry's death, Fermor had his property restored, but he only lived another two years to enjoy it.

His wealth in land and a result of the trading business he had built was around £25,000 or £3.4bn in today's money.