Henry Lingen

Sir Henry Lingen of Sutton, Lingen and Stoke Edith was a Royalist commander during the English Civil War. He was born in Herefordshire into the ancient family of Lingen (he shared an ancestor of Ralph Lingen, 1st Baron Lingen)d 1905. He became High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1635 and made much money from collecting taxes and rent. During the Civil War he commanded Goodrich Castle, protecting it against the Parliamentarians until July 1645 when Colonel John Birch finally broke the defences using the famous cannon Roaring Meg. His house of Freen's Court at Sutton was sieged until Prince Rupert of the Rhine was called to the rescue. He was knighted by Charles I on his visit to Hereford in 1645. He himself besieged Brampton Bryan Castle, home of his distant kinsman, the Harley Family (later Earls of Oxford). This was defended by Lady Brinilla Harley but to no avail.

After the Civil War, Sir Henry retired to Stoke Edith "The Fairer House of the Lingens" near Hereford but was fined heavily by parliament for supporting the former King and later his heirs had to sell Stoke Edith, his principal estate to the Foley family (later Earls of Dudley). Sir Henry married Alice Pye of the Mynnd. Both were later interned in the Church at Stoke Edith but during remodeling of the Church their monuments were lost. With the restoration he became a Member of Parliament for Herefordshire but died of smallpox in Gloucester on his way back from a sitting in London in 1662. His male heirs died with no issue, other cadet lines exist including heirs of his daugthters.

The Herefordshire folk song Sir Harry's Fancy was based upon his Civil War days and sung by his troops after his surrender of Goodrich Castle.

External Links

• The Destruction of Goodrich Castle (mentions Lingen)
• The Civil War in Herefordshire