Nicholas Gaynesford

Nicholas Gainsford, also written Gaynesford or Gaynesforde, (about 1427-1498) of Carshalton, Surrey, of an armigerous gentry family established at Crowhurst, was a Justice of the Peace, several times Member of Parliament and High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, Constable and Keeper of Odiham Castle and Park, Hampshire, who served in the royal households from around 1461 until his death in 1498. Rising to high office during the reign of Henry VI, he was an Usher to the Chamber of Edward IV and, by 1476, to his queen Elizabeth Woodville. Closely within the sphere of Woodville patronage, he was a favourer of Edward V, and was a leader in the Kentish rising of 1483 against Richard III. He was attainted in 1483, but was soon afterwards pardoned, and fully regained his position and estate as Esquire to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York after the Battle of Bosworth Field. He established the Carshalton branch of the Gainsford family.

Through several generations the senior Gainsford heir was named John, each becoming John 'senior' (the elder) in turn. The Gainsford family acquired manorial estates at Crowhurst, Surrey, during the 1330s, and in 1338 obtained licence to hold divine service in their oratory there. They held the manor of Chellows by 1359. The moated site of Crowhurst Place was purchased in 1418, and the hall was rebuilt later in the 15th century. A further estate, 'At Grove', was assimilated in 1434.

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