John Garrard

Sir John Garrard
Born	c. 1546
Died	7 May 1625
Occupation	City of London merchant; Lord Mayor of London
Spouse(s)	Jane Partridge
Children	John, Benedict, Anne, Elizabeth, Ursula, and others.

Sir John Garrard, sometimes spelt Gerrard (c. 1546 – 7 May 1625), was a City of London merchant, a member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, a Buckinghamshire landowner, and a Lord Mayor of London.

Life

Garrard was a younger son of Sir William Gerrard, Garrard, or Garret, Haberdasher, of Dorney Court, Buckinghamshire, who had bought the manor of Dorney in 1542, going on to serve as Lord Mayor of London in 1555.^[1] His mother was Isabel, daughter of Julian Nethermill, of Coventry,^[2] and his paternal grandfather was John Gerrard, alias Garret, of Sittingbourne.^[3]

He was born about 1546, if his tomb correctly recorded his age at death.^[4] His father, Sir William, died in 1571, to be succeeded by the elder son, another William Garrard.^[1]

John Garrard became a member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and married Jane, the daughter of Richard Partridge, a citizen of the City of London, and with her had thirteen children, including John (born about 1585), Benedict, Anne, Elizabeth, Ursula, Jane (baptized 1602), and at least two other daughters, these eight surviving infancy.^[1] At least four other children died young: a son named John, who was born and died in 1597; Margaret (the twin of Jane), who was baptized in May 1602 and died in June 1603; another John, who was baptized in December 1604; and a son, Thomas.^[4]

In 1593, Garrard was one of the two Sheriffs of the City of London, and at Michaelmas 1601 he was elected Lord Mayor of London, the term of office being for one year. In 1607 he succeeded his elder brother, Sir William Garrard, to the family estates at Dorney.^[1]

Garrard sold the manor of Southfleet in Kent to Sir William Sedley of Aylesford.^[5]

On 24 January 1616, Garrard's wife died; Garrard himself died on 7 May 1625, to be buried with his wife, and like his father, in the church of St Magnus-the-Martyr, London. A monument to him, erected by his son Benedict Gerrard, survives there,^[4] and reads as follows.

Here lieth interred the Bodies of Sir John Gerrard, Knt., and Dame Jane, his wife, who was Daughter to Richard Partridge, Citizen and Haberdasher of London, by whom he had 13 children; five whereof died young. They lived comfortably together, 43 years. He was Lord-Mayor of London, in the year 1601. She departed this Life the 24 Jan. 1616; and he left this world, the 7 of May 1625, being 79 years old, leaving only 2 Sons and six Daughters behind him. This Monument was erected at the Charges of Benedict Gerrard, Gent., his youngest Son, 1629.^[1]

His son and heir, another Sir John Garrard, or Gerrard, was created a baronet in 1623 (see Garrard baronets).^[1]

Arms

Garrard's arms were blazoned "argent, on a fess gules, a lion passant, argent; a crescent for difference".^[4]

References

1. John Burke, A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland (1833), p. 592
2. S. T. Bindoff, The House of Commons: 1509-1553 (Secker & Warburg, 1982), p. 191
3. Edward Hasted, The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent, vol. 2 (W. Bristow, 1797), p. 429
4. Some account of the Lord Mayors and Sheriffs of the city of London: during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, 1601-1625 (Phillimore and Co., 1897), pp. 6-7
5. George Willis, Willis's current notes (G. Willis, 1856), p. 30 (footnote)