Sir Richard Clement (c. 1482-1538) of Ightham Mote in Kent, England, was a courtier to King Henry VII and to his son Henry VIII. Origins He was born in about 1482, the only son and heir of William Clement (d.1494) of Bersted in Sussex, a member of a minor gentry family. His uncle, Richard Clement, served as Chamberlain of Pagham and Bailiff of Aldwick Hundred between 1493-5. His mother was a sister of John Goring II of Burton in Sussex. He had four sisters, Alice, Elizabeth, Joan and (probably) Anne. Career His career as a courtier started in about 1503-8 as a page of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VII (1485-1509). He was present at the king's death at Richmond Palace, as is recorded in the drawing (British Library Additional MS 45131, folio 54) by Sir Thomas Wriothesley(d.1534), Garter King of Arms, a courtier who though not present on the day, shortly thereafter wrote an account of the proceedings, from discussions with those present. Following the death of Henry VII, he served as a Gentleman Usher to his son King Henry VIII. However soon after the accession of Henry VIII in 1509, having gained no career advancement as a courtier, he moved north to Northamptonshire. Purchases Ightham Mote In 1521, having moved south from Northamptonshire, he purchased the estate of Ightham Mote in Kent from Thomas Welles, a clerk, who had acquired it in 1519 from Edward Haute, forced to sell due to financial problems. At the same time he acquired further nearby estates in Shipbourne, Wrotham and Seal. He carried out much building work on his new residence between 1521-9 including reglazing the windows of the great hall, adding a long gallery to connect the two halves of the family quarters, and rebuilding and refronting the private apartments. In the decoration he made liberal use of the royal badges of King Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon, thus displaying his loyalty to the Tudor dynasty. Assists William Warham In 1528 he assisted his near neighbour at Knole House in Kent William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, to fend off "a host of belligerent Kentishmen" demanding repayments from him, and the event appears to have assisted Clement's subsequent rise. He was knighted in 1529 and served as Sheriff of Kent 1531-2. In the opinion of Mercer (1995), Clement's patron was Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, of