John Knyvet

Sir John Knyvet (or Knivett) (died 16 February 1381) was an English lawyer and administrator.

He owned and improved Southwick Manor, which he inherited from his father; the house still survives today.

[6] In January 1377 Edward III, under the influence of John of Gaunt, reverted to the custom of appointing ecclesiastical chancellors, and Adam de Houghton was appointed to succeed Knyvet on 11 January Knyvet did not again hold judicial office, though he was appointed with the two chief justices to decide a question between the Earl of Pembroke and William la Zouch of Haryngworth.

Knyvet held large estates both in Northamptonshire and East Anglia, and when he died in 1381[7] his descendants established themselves as an important family in Norfolk.

His children included: A member of the family, Katherine Knyvet, was elected as the Abbess of Delapré Abbey in Northampton in 1333.