John Sharpe (courtier)

Sir John Sharpe (died 1518)[1] of Coggeshall in Essex was a courtier (gentleman usher) to King Henry VII (1485–1509).

[2] He was the third son of Christopher Sharpe (4th son of John Sharpe by his wife Janne Staunton, a daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Staunton of Essex by his wife Katherine[3]), appointed on 26 Nov 1460 as Receiver of the Duchy of Lancaster for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and appointed Escheator for Yorkshire on 5 Nov 1468.

Other offices he held were: "Engraver of the King's dies for gold and silver coinage" and "Keeper of the change and exchange".

[11] Sir John's lease has been lost, but that granted by the Abbot in 1528[12] to his successor, Clement Harleston, locates this mansion next to the infirmary.

[10] He bequeathed his property at Coggeshall Abbey to Isabel Damme, whom he called "the best assured and most faithful friend that I ever yet knew or could find in all my life".

John Sharpe above his coat of arms ( Argent, three rook's heads erased sable a bordure azure bezantée ) at the deathbed of King Henry VII at Richmond Palace , 1509 (detail). Drawn by Sir Thomas Wriothesley .
Scene at deathbed of King Henry VII at Richmond Palace, 1509. John Sharpe is on the king's right hand, furthest away, with his arms depicted below. Drawn contemporaneously from witness accounts by the courtier Sir Thomas Wriothesley (died 1534), who wrote an account of the proceedings. BL Add. MS 45131, f.54.