TALK The Norwich of Augustine Steward

Augustine Steward (1491 – 1571) was a successful mercer and politician. In 1522 he became a councillor, in 1526, alderman and Sheriff. He was elected mayor 3 times; in 1534, 1546, and 1556, a record matched by only 2 other men in the 16th century. Steward’s influence was prominent in the 1534 rebuilding of the Council Chamber of Norwich Guildhall. He was also involved with purchasing Black Friars Church, (St. Andrew’s Hall), from the Crown, for Norwich in 1540. A portrait of Augustine in his mayoral robes can be seen in the Blackfriar’s wing of St. Andrew’s Hall. During Kett’s Rebellion in 1549, Augustine Steward played a leading part in negotiations between the rebels and the King’s army and the Earl of Warwick used Augustine’s house on Tombland as his headquarters when he put down the rebellion.

Carole Rawcliffe is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. She is also a Member of The Norwich Society’s Publications Working Group and a regular contributor to the Society’s Members magazine Aspects of Norwich.