COPPYN, Gregory (d.1589), of Dunwich, Suff.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

1st s. of Robert Coppyn prob. by his 2nd w. Anne. m. bef. 1575, Joan, 4s. 1da. suc. fa. 1575.

Offices Held

Bailiff, Dunwich 1584.

Biography

Coppyn’s father was presumably behind Gregory Coppyn’s return for Dunwich in 1559 when, for some unascertained reason, he did not wish to sit himself. The family was protestant, and connected with the radical Wingfields and Heighams, and the John Coppyn who was executed as a Brownist in 1583 was probably a relative.

Coppyn was rated at £8 in the 1568 subsidy returns, only £4 less than his father, whose commercial and fishing interests he was to inherit. In his own will, made in October 1586 and proved in March 1589, Coppyn left his ships and nets to his executors for the payment of his debts and legacies. His wife was bequeathed a life interest in lands and tenements in Dunwich and Westleton, and small properties went to his sons Valentine and Burrell. Another son Francis was eventually to have a house and ‘a little tenement near the market, which was lately my grandfather’s’, in which the widow had a life interest. The remaining property held by Joan Coppyn was to be sold after her death and the proceeds divided among the surviving children.

PCC 31 Leicester, 15 Pyckering; C219/29/141; Coke, Institutes, iv. 19; DNB (Coppin, John); Suff. Subsidy Returns 1568 (Suff. Green Bks. xii), 65, 67.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Irene Cassidy

Notes