John Harbottle

The wealthy and influential wool merchant and landowner lived in the imposing Tudor mansion on this site. He was Chamberlain in the town in 1542 and in 1549 he was co-leader of the Suffolk contingent of Kett's rebellion.

According to Dairmaid MacCulloch in his "Suffolk and the Tudors"; it would appear that the Suffolk commotion differed from the Norfolk rebellion mainly in that it attracted fewer yeomen tenants and artisans.

Although the rebel leaders, among them Harbottle, achieved very little, the families took their place in the folklore of Suffolk not for what they accomplished but for their audacity and bravery. McCulloch: “the rebel leaders showed adroitness in surviving the upheavals - were responsible, sophisticated men...” and at his death John Harbottle was termed an esquire. (No image of the man has been found)

The plaque was unveiled in April 2010.