LONG, Richard, of Draycot Cerne, Wilts.

In the spring of 1438 settlements were made regarding the Wiltshire manor of Draycot Cerne, which was then held by Edward Cerne’s widow for term of her life. It was arranged that after her death it would pass to the Hampshire esquire William Ringbourne* for his lifetime, with successive remainders in tail to three of Robert Long’s sons: John, Richard and Reynold (the eldest, Henry, being excluded from the arrangement). This suggests that Richard was the third son. Ringbourne was almost certainly their brother-in-law. Wilts. Feet of Fines (Wilts. Rec. Soc. xli), 510; CPR, 1436-41, p. 346. When elections took place for the Parliament of 1442 Robert Long and three of his sons were returned for Wiltshire boroughs, with Robert himself representing the city of Salisbury and Richard the depopulated borough of Old Sarum nearby. He cannot have been very old at the time: his eldest brother, Henry, is thought to have been born in about 1417, and the next one, John, in about 1422. It is barely possible that all the brothers had attained their majority. None of them had any experience of local administration for the Crown, and there can be no doubt that they owed their elections to their father’s influence.

Richard is not recorded for certain thereafter, for although he may have been the bailiff of Hungerford recorded in 1457, this would have been a lowly position for someone from such a prominent family. Curiously, although in his will of 1490 Henry Long made bequests ensuring that prayers would be offered for his deceased brothers John and Reynold, he did not mention Richard. PCC 43 Milles (PROB11/8, f. 281v).