Richard Long (courtier)

Sir Richard Long (c. 1494 – 1546) was an English politician and courtier, for many years a member of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII.

He was one of the most senior members of the privy chamber during these years and his intimacy with the King made him a useful agent for secret and covert affairs.

Arriving in January 1541 at Calais to put its affairs in order, Long was described by the French ambassador, Charles de Marillac, bishop of Vienne, as 'a person of authority and conduct' (LP Henry VIII, 16.466).

He received large grants of Abbey lands from Henry VIII, in Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk and elsewhere, and together with his marriage, meant that like his fellow courtiers Welsbourne and Walsh, he was a rich man at his death on 30 September 1546.

She was the only daughter of John Donnington of Stoke Newington in Middlesex, and widow of Thomas Kitson of Hengrave Hall, Suffolk.