{{short description|Member of the Parliament of England}} {{about|the mayor of London|the vicar of Earls Colne|Ralph Josselin}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Sir Ralph Josselyn''' (or Jocelyn) [[Knight of the Bath|KB]] (died 25 October 1478) was a 15th-century English politician who held several political offices, including two terms as [[Lord Mayor of London]].
== Family background == Ralph Josselyn was the son of Jeffrey Josselyn of Hide Hall in [[Sawbridgeworth]], [[Hertfordshire]], by his wife Katherine Bray.<ref name="NEHGR">[https://books.google.com/books?id=1soUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA239 "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register"], pg. 239-240</ref> His eldest brother, Thomas Josselyn, was the ancestor of the [[Earl of Roden|Earls of Roden]].<ref name="Aldermen">[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp159-168 "Notes on the aldermen, 1240-1500"]</ref>
== Career == As Josselyn's elder brother inherited their father's lands on his death, he went to make his career in London. He became a member of the [[Worshipful Company of Drapers]], of which he would become the Master in 1457-8.<ref name="NEHGR"/> He became an alderman, of [[Cornhill, London|Cornhill]] Ward, in 1456.<ref name="Aldermen2">[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp121-127 "Aldermen of the City of London: Cornhill Ward"]</ref> In 1458 he was elected one of the [[Sheriffs of the City of London]]. In 1464 he was elected to the first of his two mayoral terms.<ref name="NEHGR"/> During this term, he was one of four London citizens made a Knight of the Bath, at the coronation of [[Edward IV]]'s queen, [[Elizabeth Woodville]].<ref name="Sharpe">Sharpe, Reginald R., [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19800/19800-pdf.pdf "London and the Kingdom"], pg. 307</ref>
After his first mayoral term, Josselyn continued to be active in the city's affairs. He was elected to [[Parliament of England|Parliament]], representing the [[City of London (Parliament of England constituency)|City of London]], in 1467.<ref name="Aldermen3">[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp261-297 "Aldermen in Parliament"]</ref> In 1471, he raised a force to repel the assault of [[Thomas Neville (died 1471)|Thomas Neville, Bastard of Fauconbridge]], when the latter attacked the city in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the imprisoned King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] from the [[Tower of London]].<ref name="Spectator">[https://books.google.com/books?id=5tE9AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA717 "The Spectator, Vol. 39"], pg. 717</ref>
Josselyn was elected to a second term as mayor in 1476. During this term, he initiated a huge effort to repair the city's walls, which had fallen into grave disrepair. He procured massive quantities of bricks and lime, levied taxes to pay for the significant costs of the repairs, and provided for the work to be supervised by a hand-picked panel of citizens representing each of the city's wards.<ref name="Planning">[https://guildhallhistoricalassociation.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/9-the-development-of-the-post-of-city-architect-and-planning-officer.pdf "The Development of the Post of City Architect and Planning Officer, 1478-1954"]</ref> He also took measures to curb the abuses of bakers and victuallers within the city.<ref name="NEHGR"/>
== Personal life == Josselyn seems to have married three times. His first wife, Margery, may have been either the daughter or the widow of another draper, Thomas Aylesby.<ref name="NEHGR"/> His second wife, Philippa, was the daughter of Philip Malpas, another London alderman and (unlike Josselyn) a staunch Lancastrian; her sister married [[Thomas Cooke (mayor)|Thomas Cooke]], another mayor of London.<ref name="Aldermen"/> His third wife was Elizabeth Barley, daughter of William Barley and sister of [[Henry Barley]], MP for Hertfordshire; she survived him and married Sir Robert Clifford, son of [[Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford]].<ref name="Henry VII">Breverton, Terry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CcR5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT215 "Henry VII: The Maligned Tudor King"]</ref> She and her new husband were sued by her father over ownership of a manor in [[Linslade]], previously owned by Josselyn.<ref name="Linslade">[http://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityArchives/Linslade/LinsladeManors.aspx "Linslade Manors"]</ref>
Josselyn died on 25 October 1478 and was buried at [[St Swithin, London Stone|St Swithin's Church]] in London, of which he had been a benefactor; a memorial erected to him in Sawbridgeworth church has caused some authors to state he was buried there. He seems to have had no surviving children, as his heir was his nephew George Josselyn, son of his elder brother Thomas.<ref name="NEHGR"/>
== Literary representation == Josselyn appears in the Elizabethan playwright [[Thomas Heywood]]'s ''[[Edward IV (play)|Edward IV]]''. In the play, Josselyn is portrayed as a comic, buffoonish character, quite at odds with historical reality.<ref name="Heywood">Rowland, Richard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pQIFHmlUFYoC&pg=PA45 "Thomas Heywood's Theatre, 1599-1639: Locations, Translations, and Conflict"], pg. 45</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Josselyn, Ralph}} [[Category:1478 deaths]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Sheriffs of the City of London]] [[Category:English MPs 1467]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for the City of London]] [[Category:15th-century lord mayors of London]]