Richard Buckenham d.1628

Richard BUCKENHAM d.1628

Biographical Note

Born in Ipswich, second son of William Buckenham, a wealthy merchant and corporation office holder there. BA Pembroke Hall, Cambridge 1587, fellow ca.1588, MA 1591, BD 1599, DD 1615. Rector of Great Bromley, Essex 1600-12, prebendary of Chichester 1609, vicar of Eartham, Sussex 1612, archdeacon of Lewes 1612.

Books

Buckenham bequeathed all his books and notebooks to his son Richard (BA Pembroke, 1629, vicar of Eartham 1663); he noted in his will that two catalogues of the collection had been made, one kept by him and one given to Richard. In a codicil, he further directed that his wife as executrix should deliver the books and the catalogue to his son in law Francis Ringstead, as trustee for the younger Richard, “by opening the study doors and giving him possession of the said books with the key of the said door”. Should Richard die before the age of 21, the books would pass to Ringstead, who was also instructed to sell books “as shall be most vendible” if Richard was short of money during his time at Cambridge.

Buckenham was the agent who arranged for the gift of ca.100 medieval manuscripts to Pembroke in 1599. These books, originally from the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, were in the collection of William Smart of Ipswich (d.1599), and were apparently acquired by the Smart family soon after the dissolution. Smart bequeathed his books to his native town, to become the basis of Ipswich Town Library, but these manuscripts were given to Pembroke shortly before Smart died. Buckenham, who presumably persuaded Smart that a Cambridge college would prove a better custodian, is credited in contemporary sources as having organised this, together with a property endowment.

Characteristic Markings

None of Buckenham’s books have been identified.

Sources

• Attwater, A. A short history of Pembroke College, 1936, 37.
• Blatchly, J. The Town Library of Ipswich, 1989, 2-4.
• Venn, J. & J. A. Alumni Cantabrigienses. Cambridge, 1922.