Sir Simonds D'Ewes, a seventeenth-century gentleman bred in Dorset, but ultimately shaped by a deep and lasting love for Suffolk, was not destined for greatness. Nor did he have greatness thrust upon him in his short lifetime. Yet this was hardly the point. Son to a respectable family, D'Ewes rose through local, legal and political ranks to become a first-hand witness to a succession of monumental events in England. As MP for Sudbury from 1640, he was one of those who saw with agonising im...