John de Fressingfield

Sir John de Fressingfield (c.1260-c.1323) was an English knight, judge, diplomat and Privy Councillor, much of whose career was spent in Ireland. Though he is almost entirely forgotten now, he was a figure of some importance in English and Irish public life in the first 20 years of the fourteenth century. He also held judicial office in Jersey and Guernsey.[1]

His career is all the more remarkable since he came from an obscure family of peasant origin, and lacked powerful political connections. He had at least one son, and probably grandchildren, but his descendants seem to have died out within a few generations.[2]

Fressingfield, Suffolk, present day: John was born here
  1. ^ Brand p.44
  2. ^ Brand pp.47-51