He was born at Letheringham, Suffolk to Sir John Wingfield and his wife Elizabeth FitzLewis (c. 1431-1497). He was the eleventh of twelve sons; and brother to Humphrey Wingfield. His paternal grandparents were Sir Robert Wingfield and Elizabeth Gousell. He was one of the major landowners in Huntingdonshire and lived at Kimbolton Castle.
He became a courtier during the reign of Henry VII and was made marshal of Calais in 1511. With Sir Edward Poynings and others he was sent in 1512 to arrange a holy league between the pope, the English king and other sovereigns, and in 1514 he went to the Netherlands to try and arrange a marriage between the archduke Charles, afterwards the emperor Charles V, and Henry VIII's daughter Mary.
In the intervals between these and similar errands Wingfield was occupied in discharging his duties at Calais, but in 1519 he resigned his post there and returned to England.
Twice during 1521 he visited Charles V, his object being to deter him from making war on France, and he was on an errand to Spain when he died at Toledo on the 22nd of July 1525.
In 1526 he had been made chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. For bis services Wingfield received lands in various parts of England, including Kimbolton in Huntingdonshire, where he enlarged the castle.
Sir Richard had two brothers who attained some celebrity: Sir Robert (c. 1464 - 1539), a diplomatist, and Sir Humphrey (d. 1545), speaker of the House of Commons from 1533 to 1536.
An elder brother, Sir John, sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1483, had a son Sir Anthony (c. 1458 - 1552), who was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, and became a member of the privy council and capt ain of the guard.
One of his grandsons, Anthony Wingfield (c. 1550 - c. 1615), was public orator in the university of Cambridge, and another was Sir John Wingfield (d. 1596), a soldier who was governor of Gertruydcnberg from 1587 and 1589. Another of Sir Anthony's descendants, Sir Anthony Wingfield (d. 1638), was created a baronet in 1627.
Another brother of Sir Richard, Ludovic, had a son, Sir Richard Wingfield, who wras governor of Portsmouth under Queen Elizabeth. He was the father of another Sir Richard Wingfield (d. 1634), who served in Ireland and was created Viscount Powerscourt in 1618.
He died without issue, and his Irish estates passed to a cousin, Sir Edwrard Wingfield (d. 1638), whose grandson, Folliott Wingfield (d. 1717), was created Viscount Powerscourt in 1665, but the title again became extinct when he died.
In 1744 his cousin, Richard Wingfield (1697 - 1751), was created Viscount Powers-court, and his descendants have held this title until the present day.
He married Catherine Woodville sometime after 1495. She was daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, sister to Elizabeth Woodville, sister-in-law to Edward IV of England and widow of both Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford. They were parents to ten children.
(1513 – 24 May 1540)
(c. 1519-1587?)
sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
