Sir Robert Hitcham
A successful lawyer, Member of Parliament and Attorney General in Jacobean times, Sir Robert Hitcham leased and then bought Framlingham Castle from the Howard Dukes of Norfolk in 1635 for the princely sum of £14,000. But what did he do with his impressive property, land and money when he died unmarried with no heir?
Benefactor (1572-1636)
Sir Robert Hitcham left everything to his old Cambridge college – Pembroke Hall – when he died, but made some stipulations to ensure that communities dear to him (Framlingham and Debenham in Suffolk and Coggeshall in Essex) were supported through educational establishments, almshouses and their churches.
