He was the son of Sir Humphrey Wingfield and his wife Anne (née Wiseman).
A devout Catholic, from 24–26 July 1553 he played host at his Ipswich home to Queen Mary during her journey to London to claim the throne against Lady Jane Grey.
[1] He wrote a detailed account of Mary's coup d'état titled Vita Mariae Angliae reginae, dedicated to Sir Edward Waldegrave.
[1] Wingfield composed the work in Latin and it covers the death of Edward VI to summer 1554.
Poverty necessitated the sale of Brantham to a local gentleman, Robert Bogas, in the early 1560s.