William Wilmer 1578-1646

Sir William WILMER 1578-1646

Armorial stamp of Sir William Wilmer (British Armorial Bindings)

Biographical Note

Born at Sywell, Northamptonshire, son of Robert Wilmer, a member of an established gentry family there. One of the first generation of students at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; matriculated there 1598, but did not graduate. Admitted at the Inner Temple 1599. Inherited family estates in 1613; sheriff of Northampton 1616, knighted 1617. An active royalist during the Civil War, he was fined heavily and lost much of his wealth shortly before his death.

Books

In 1613, Wilmer gave a small collection of books to Sidney Sussex, copies of theological commentaries by Suarez and Vasquez, uniformly bound in contemporary bindings with his arms and a gift inscription. At least one other book is known bearing the armorial stamp, now in the British Library. In his will, which refers to his recent deprivations ("as touching my worldlie goods which these sadd times have been almost all taken from me"), he bequeathed all the residue of his goods and chattels to his grandson William Wilmer; there is no specific mention of books. Examples: British Library C.67.d.6

Characteristic Markings

The BL book, a copy of John Stow's Survay, 1618, has no markings by Wilmer other than the armorial stamp on the binding.

Sources

• Will of Sir William Wilmer, The National Archives PROB 11/198/342.
• British Armorial Bindings.
• Beales, D. & H. Nisbet, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge: historical essays, Woodbridge, 1996, p.80.
• Humphreys, R. Sidney Sussex: a history, Cambridge, 2009, p.102.
• Venn, J. & J. A. Alumni Cantabrigienses. Cambridge, 1922.