He attempted to get marriage annulled, sardonically we suspect (8,6)
I believe the answer is:
cardinal wolsey
'he attempted to get marriage annulled' is the definition.
(as in Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon)
'sardonically we suspect' is the wordplay.
'suspect' indicates an anagram (a suspicious or unusual spelling).
'sardonically'+'we'='sardonicallywe'
'sardonicallywe' is an anagram of 'CARDINAL WOLSEY'.
(Other definitions for cardinal wolsey that I've seen before include "Shakespeare role" , "Lord Chancellor" .)