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The Golden Falcon |
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Chapter IX/1 - Admiral |
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ADMIRAL OF THE WHITE
"Drake,
he's in his hammock and a thousand mile away Captain,
art thou sleeping there below? Slung
a-tween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay And
dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe. Yonder
lumes the island, yonder lie the ships With
sailor lads a-dancing heel-an-toe And
the shore lights flaming and the night-tide dashing He
sees it all so plainly as he saw it long ago. Drake
he was a Devon man and ruled the Devon seas Captain,
art thou sleeping there below? Roving
thro' his death fell, he went with heart at ease And
dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe. "Take
my drum to England, hang it by the shore Strike
it when your powder's running low. If
the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the part of Heaven, And
drum them up the Channel as we drummed them long ago." Drake
he's in his hammock, till the great Armada's come, Captain,
art thou sleeping there below? Slung
a-tween the round shot, list'ning for the drum And
dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe. Call
him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound Call
him when ye sail to meet the foe. Where
the old trade's plying and the old flag flying They
shall find him ware and waking as they found him long ago!" ("Drake's
Drum"
- Henry Newbolt). In his Will, Henry VIII set out the order of succession. His son Edward was to succeeded but in the event of his death, his daughter Mary (by Catalina of Aragon) would be the next heir, then his second daughter Elizabeth (by Anne Boleyn) as long as they married according to Edward's wishes. If all of them died without heirs, the throne was to bypass the Scottish heirs (Mary Stuart, whose grandmother was Henry's sister Margaret Tudor) and come to Frances, marchioness of Dorset and Eleanor, Countess Brandon, the daughters of Henry's second sister Mary, duchess of Suffolk. Frances, marchioness of Dorset's three daughters would succeeded her. Henry VIII died on 27.1.1547. During Edward IV's minority Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, the king's uncle became Lord Protector, Lord Treasurer, High Steward, earl Marshal and duke of Somerset. Hertford had been married twice, his first wife was Catherine Fillol and the second Anne Stanhope who made him disinherit Catherine's children. Anne had 6 daughters and 3 sons. She was thoroughly disliked - only Princess Mary had any affection for her. John Dudley, Lord Lisle became Lord Chamberlain and was created earl of Warwick, and Thomas Seymour, the king's younger uncle Lord High Admiral and baron Seymour of Suddeley. Robert Cooke, Clareanceaux, King of Arms in his “Arms Allowed to Winter 1588” maintained Sir William Winter was descended from the Somerys but this is defective and neither the Russells of Strensham nor the Winters of Huddington and Himbleton display the Somery arms on their tombs. However William Winter and John Dudley (who had more royal blood in his veins than the Tudors as did his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey) shared a common ancestry as they both descended from Charlemagne, Adeliza of Louvian, the d’Aubignys, and the Mowbrays. John Dudley was a descendant of Nicola d’Aubigny via Margaret Somery, wife of John Sutton de Dudley and the Winters from Cecilia d’Aubigny via the Montalts and St. Pierres. Fig.
88
- Paynell, Somery, Dudley, Burnell & Winter Burnell:
Philip Burnell > Hugh Burnell = Maud (d. 1294). daughter of Richard
Arundel > Maud Burnell = (1) John Lovel of Tichmarsh (d. 8 Edw. II) =
(2) John, lord Handlow (d. 5.8. 20 Edw. III) > Nicholas Handlow alias
Burnell (d. 19.1.1383) > Hugh Burnell = (1) Joyce, d. of John Botetourt
(d. 27.11.1420) = (2) Elizabeth. By (2) > Edward Burnell = Alice, daughter of John, lord
Strange of Knockin >: a.
Joyce Burnell = Thomas Erdington b.
Catherine Burnell = (1) John Ratcliffe = (2) John Talbot. c.
Margery Burnell = Edmund Hungerford, knight, 2nd son > [Thomas
Hungerford = Christina, d. of John (Hall) of Salisbury > John
Hungerford = Margaret, d. of Blount of
Gloucester] > Elizabeth Hungerford = Roger
Winter. Paynel
& Somery:
Ralph Paganell or Paynell = a de Lacy.
He held East Quantockshead, Someset in 1086 and lands in Yorkshire
> Fulk Paganell = Beatrice, d. of William
fitzAnsculf de Piquigny, a Fleming > Ralph Paganell > Gervase
Paganell = Isabel, d. of Robert "le
Bossu",
earl of Leicester, widow of Simon St Lis, earl of
Northampton (temp Richard I) > Hawise Paganell = (1) John de
Somery (reign of King John) = (2) Roger de Berkeley > Roger de Somery =
(1) Nichola d'Aubigny (sister and co-heiress of Hugh d’Aubigny, earl of
Arundel, desc. Adeliza de Louvain & Charlemagne).
Roger de Somery = (2) Amabil, d. & heiress of Robert de
Chaucomb, widow of Gilbert Segrave (d. Edw I 1273) > Roger de Somery =
Agnes (d. 1291) >: a.
Joan = Thomas de Botetourt > John Boutetourt (d. 27.11.1420)
> Joyce de Botetourt = Hugh Burnell = (1) Elizabeth.
By (1) > Edward Burnell = Alice, d. of John, lord Strange of
Knockin >: 1.
Joyce
Burnell = Thomas Erdington 2.
Catherine
Burnell = (1) John Ratcliffe = (2) John Talbot. 3.
Margery
Burnell = Edmund Hungerford, knight, 2nd son > [Thomas Hungerford =
Christina, d. of John (Hall) of Salisbury > John Hungerford =
Margaret, d. of Blount of Gloucester] > Elizabeth Hungerford = Roger
Winter. b.
Margaret de Somery = John de
Sutton (reign of Edward II). Arms. “Or,
2 lions passant azure”
(Somery)
Sutton
& Dudley:
Edward I = Eleanor of Castile > Joan Plantagenet of Acre = Gilbert de
Clare, earl of Gloucester > Margaret de Clare = Hugh de Audley, 8th
earl of Stafford > Margaret de Audley = Ralph de Stafford, Lord
Stafford > Katherine Stafford = John Sutton (b.c. Nov. 1338, d.c.
1369/70), Baron of Dudley (desc. Charlemagne) by Isabel, d. of John de
Cherleton, Lord of Powis > John de Sutton (b. 6.12.1361, d.
10.3.1395/6) of Dudley Castle, Staffs > John Sutton (Feb. 1380, d.
28.8.1406) of Dudley = Constance, d. of Walter Blount of Barton Blount,
Derby by Sancha de Ayala, d. of Diego Gómez de Toledo, alcalde mayor de
Toledo > John Sutton de Dudley (25.12.1400, d. 30.9.1487, bur. St.
James Priory, Dudley) = Elizabeth, d. of John Berkeley, knight of
Beverstone, Glos. (dec. Charlemagne) by Elizabeth, d. of John Betterhorne,
knight of Bisterne, Hants > Edmund de Sutton or Dudley (d. between
6.7.1483 & 30.9.1487), knight of Dudley Castle & Gatcombe, Glos.,
Baron Tibetot & Cherleton jure uxoris
= Joyce, 3rd d. of John Tiptoft by 2nd wife
Joyce (desc. Edw. I), younger.d & co. h. of Edward Cherleton, Lord
Cherleton. Joyce Tiptoft was
sister of John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester > Edward Dudley, 2nd
Lord Dudley = Cecily Willoughby, d. co.h. of William Willoughby, knight of
Boston, Lincs (desc. Edw I) by Joan (desc. Charlemagne), d. & co.h. of
Thomas Strangeways > John
Dudley, 3rd Lord Dudley, earl of Northumberland = Cecily
Grey, d. Thomas Grey, 1st Marquis of Dorset (desc. Edw. 1) by
Cecily, Baroness Bonville & Harington, d. of William Bonville, 6th
Lord Bonville (desc. Edw I). Grey:
Edward
I = Eleanor of Castile > Joan of Acre = Gilbert de Clare, earl of
Gloucester > Elizabeth de Clare = Theobald de Verdun > Isabel de
Verdun = Henry de Ferrars, 2nd Lord Ferrars of Groby >
William de Ferrars, 3rd Lord Ferrars of Groby = Margaret de
Ufford > Henry de Ferrars 4th Lord Ferrars of Groby = Joan
de Hoo > William de Ferrars, 5th Lord Ferrars = Philippa de
Clifford > Henry Ferrars, knight, son & heir = Isabel Mowbray, d.
& co.h. of Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk & earl of Nottingham (desc.
Edward I) by his 2nd wife Elizabeth, d. of Richard fitzAlan,
earl of Arundel (desc. King Edward I) > Elizabeth Ferrars, Lady Ferrars
of Groby = Edward Grey, Lord Ferrars of Groby jure uxoris, son of Reynold
Grey 3rd Lord Grey of Ruthin (desc Charlemagne) by his 2nd
wife Joan, d. & co.h. of William de Astley, 4th Lord Astley
of Astley, Warks (desc. Charlemagne) > John Grey = Elizabeth Wydville
d. of Richard Wydville, 1st Lord Rivers by Jacquetta, Duchess
of Bedford & d. of Pierre de Luxembourg, Comte de St. Pol, Coversana
& Brienne (desc. Charlemagne) > Elizabeth Woodville = (1) Sir John
Grey of Astley & Grafton Regis, Warwickshire > Thomas Grey, Marquis
of Dorset = Cecily Bonville, Baroness Bonville & Harington (desc.
Charlemagne & Edward I) > Cecily Grey = John Sutton de Dudley (b.c.
1495, d. 18.9.1553, bur. St. Margaret’s, Westminster), 3rd
Lord Dudley > Edmund Sutton de Dudley, 4th baron Dudley, tax-gatherer
of Henry VII = (1) Elizabeth Grey, grand d. of John Talbot, Viscount and
Baron Lisle (son of the 1st earl of Shrewsbury) whose 2nd husband was
Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle by right of his wife.
Edmund Sutton de Dudley = (2) Anne, d. of Sir Anthony Windsor >
John Dudley (exec. 1552), knighted 1532, Lord Lisle, Master of the Armoury
in the Tower of London (1534), diplomat and MP, Warden of the Scottish
Marches (1542), earl of Warwick, Duke of Northumberland, Lord High Admiral
= Jane, d. of Sir Edward Guildford, Marshall of Calais (by his wife, the
sister of Lord de la Warr) >: 1.
Henry
Dudley = Margaret Audley = (2) Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. 2.
John
Dudley. 3.
Guildford
Dudley = Jane Grey. 4.
Robert
Dudley, earl of Leicester = (1) Amy Robsart = (2) Lettice Knollys. Howard,
Boleyn & Knollys: Elizabeth
Howard = Thomas Boleyn, Lord Rochfort >: A.
Anne
Boleyn = Henry VIII. B.
Mary
Boleyn = William Carey >: 1.
Henry
Carey, 1st Lord Hunsdon > Katherine Carey = Charles Howard of
Effingham. 2.
Catherine
Carey = Francis Knollys >: a.
Cecilia Knollys = Thomas Leighton > John St. John, Lord
Bolingbroke. b.
William Knollys (1547-1632) Viscount Wallingford, earl of Banbury =
Elizabeth, d. of Thomas Howard, earl of Suffolk c.
Lettice Knollys = (1) Walter Devereaux, 1st earl of Essex = (2)
Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester (after the death of his first wife Amy
Robsart) = (3) Christopher Blount executed after Essex's rebellion >
Robert Devereaux, 2nd earl of Essex = Frances, of Sir Francis Walsingham,
widow of Sir Philip Sidney > Robert Devereaux 3rd earl of
Essex = Frances, d. of Thomas Howard, earl of Suffolk (involved in the
murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London).
Frances Walsingham = (2) Robert Carr, earl of Somerset > Anne
Carr = --- Russell, earl of Bedford > William Russell exec. 1683 after
Rye House Plot. Sir
William Sidney >: 1.
Jane
Sidney = ---Dormer. 2.
Henry
Sidney = Mary, daughter of Sir John Dudley > Sir Philip Sidney =
Frances, d. of Sir Francis Walsingham.
She married = (2) Robert Devereaux, earl of Essex. Fig.
74-
Brandon & Grey Sir
John Grey = (2) Elizabeth Woodville > Sir Thomas Grey, (created Marquis
of Dorset on 18.4.1475) = (1) Anne Holland, d. of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter (by
Anne, d. of Richard Plantagenet, duke of York). Thomas Grey = (2) Cecily Bonville > Henry Grey, Marquis of
Dorset, duke of Suffolk = Frances Brandon > Lady Jane Grey = Guildford
Dudley (both executed after Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Rebellion) Holland:
Edward I = Eleanor of Castile > Edmund Plantagenet of Woodstock (b.
5.8.1301, beheaded 19.3.1321), earl of Kent = Margaret Wake, widow of John
Comyn of Badenoch & d. of John Wake, 1st Lord Wake (by
Joan, d. of William de Fiennes) > Joan Plantagenet, Countess of Kent,
Baroness Wake suo jure = (1) Thomas de Holland, knight of Broughton,
Bucks., earl of Kent jure uxoris, yngr son of Robert de Holland, knight, 1st
Lord Holland of Upholland, Lancaster, Lancs., by Maud, d. & co.h. of
Alan de la Zouche, Baron Zouche of Ashby (desc. Charlemagne) Thomas
Holland = Joan Plantagenet the “Fair
Maid of Kent”
= Edward Plantagenet, the “Black Prince”
> Richard I. By Thomas
Holland >: (1)
John Holland (exec. Pleshey, Essex 1400 for treason against his
brother-in-law Henry IV), earl of Huntingdon, duke of Exeter > Henry
Holland, duke of Exeter > Anne Holland = Sir Thomas Grey (2)
Thomas Holland (exec. 1400 at Pleshey for treason against Henry
IV), earl of Kent, duke of Surrey. Edward
III = Philippa of Hainault > John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster = Blanche
of Lancaster > Elizabeth Plantagenet of Lancaster = (2) John
Holland (b. after 1350, beheaded with Thomas Winter at Pleshey Castle,
Essex on 9/10.1.1399/1400 for treason against his brother-in-law Henry
IV), knight, yngr son of Thomas de Holland, knight, earl of Kent (by Joan
Plantagenet, the
“Fair Maid of Kent”,
d. of Edmund Plantagenet of Woodstock, earl of Kent).
John Holland was created earl of Huntingdon (2.6.1388) & Duke
of Exeter (29.9.1397) Edward
I = Eleanor of Castile > Joan Plantagent of Acre = Gilbert de Clare,
earl of Gloucester > Eleanor de Clare = Hugh le Despencer, 2nd
Lord Despencer > Edward le Despenser, knight = Anne Ferrers > Edward
le Despencer, 4th Lord Despencer = Elizabeth Burghersh >
Anne le Despencer = Hugh Hastings, knight > Margaret Hastings = John
Wingfield, knight > Robert Wingfield, knight = Elizabeth Russell >
Robert Wingfield, knight = Elizabeth Goushill > Elizabeth Wingfield = William
Brandon, knight of Soham, Suffolk (perhaps son of Robert Brandon,
Collector of Customs at King’s Lynn & Great Yarmouth, Norfolk).
William Brandon was Escheator
for Norfolk & Suffolk (1454/5), Marshall of the Marchelsea, Marshall
of the King’s Bench, MP for Shoreham, Sussex (1467/8) & Suffolk
(1478) > William Brandon (d. at Bosworth), probably of Brecklands,
Suffolk, Standard Bearer to Henry VII > Charles Brandon, Duke of
Suffolk = (1) Mary Tudor, d. of Henry VII = (2) Catherine Willoughby, d.
of Lord Willoughby d'Eresby & Maria Salinas.
By > (1) Frances Brandon (d. 1550) = Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk
(d. 1554) >: 1.
Jane
Grey = Guildford (both exec. 1554), son of John Dudley, duke of
Northumberland. 2.
Mary
Grey (d.1578) = Thomas Keyes (d. 1571). 3.
Eleanor
Grey (d. 1547) = Henry Clifford, earl of Cumberland (d.1570) > Margaret
Clifford = Henry Stanley, earl of Derby (d. 1593). 4.
Catherine
Grey (d. 1568) = (1) Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke (d. 1601) marriage
dissolved = (2) Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford (d. 1621) = (2) Honora
Rogers > William Seymour, duke of Somerset (d. 1660) = Arabella Stuart
(1575-1615). Edward VI was crowned on 9.2.1547. His council was dominated by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, John Dudley, Edward Seymour and Sir William Paget who together ousted the Lord Chancellor Wriothesley and forced him to hand the Great Seal to Seymour. Thomas Seymour was jealous of his brother's power and tried to rise higher by marriage. A week after Henry VIII's death, he proposed to both Elizabeth and Mary and was turned down whereupon he secretly married Katherine Parr, the queen dowager to whom he had been betrothed before her marriage to Henry. Somerset was almost on the point of war with Scotland because of Mary of Guise's reluctance to agree to Edward's marriage to Mary of Scots who was smuggled out to France in 1548. Thomas Seymour then tried to persuade Edward to make him Lord Protector and with his allies (including the marquis of Dorset, Lady Jane Grey's father) bribed members of the council. Seymour promised Dorset that he would arrange a marriage between his daughter (whose wardship he bought) and Edward. Had Edward VI lived and married Lady Jane, neither she nor the Queen of Scots would have been beheaded. Katherine Parr had been in love with Thomas Seymour who ill-treated her; she died in childbirth during autumn 1548. Thomas tried again to marry the 16-year-old Princess Elizabeth and when his plans became known, the lords opposed it. Frustrated he attempted to kidnap the king and entering the palace through the garden, he tried to open the door of the king's bedchamber. When Edward's dog (which he had put outside his locked door) barked, Seymour shot it. He was immediately arrested and sent to the Tower. He was attainted and charged with 35 offences. His brother did not attend the Council meetings but had to sign the death warrant. Thomas was beheaded in March 1549. Edward VI was a fervent, almost bigoted Protestant. The Mass was forbidden, after Whitsunday 9.6.1549 Edward's new Protestant prayerbook had to be used, the people rose up in revolt and 10,000 were massacred. Somerset and the 11-year-old king, guarded by Seymour's men, shut themselves away at Hampton Court and the Lord Protector sent a letter by his son Sir Edward Seymour to the Lord Russell and Lord William Herbert for troops. Only Thomas Cranmer, William Paget, William Cecil and the Secretary of State Sir Thomas Smith remained with them. On 6.9.1549 they all rode off at night to Windsor. Cranmer and Paget acted as intermediaries between the Protector and the Council which proclaimed he would not be deprived of property or honour if he submitted to arrest which he did on the 10th. He was released because Edward did not want him harmed. In October 1551 the Dudley faction (now including William Cecil who was knighted), were honoured; Lord Paulet was created Marquis of Winchester, the earl of Dorset (Lady Jane Grey's father) became duke of Suffolk, William Herbert was made earl of Pembroke and John Dudley, earl of Warwick was created earl of Northumberland. Dudley's agent Sir Thomas Palmer dreamt up a conspiracy allegedly led by Somerset and on 16.10. 1551 he was accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower. On 1.12.1551 he was taken to Westminster and formally accused. On 19.1.1552 Edward's instructions were tampered with to read that his uncle should be executed and this was carried out 3 days later. So many of the common people gathered in his favour that a triple ring of soldiers encircled the scaffold but when he was beheaded, the commoners dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood. On 2.4.1552 Edward caught measles and became more frail daily. An Italian doctor, Girolamo Cardano called to see him, noticed that his right shoulder was higher than the left, a sure sign of lung trouble. In January 1553 he caught a chill which turned into congestion of the lungs. He was ill for 3 weeks and recovered but he had only 3 months more of life left. He began spitting blood and it was realised he had tuberculosis. John Dudley now proceeded to find matches for the duke of Suffolk's three daughters. Jane would marry his son Guildford Dudley, Katherine Lord Herbert's heir Pembroke and Mary (a dwarf) her cousin lord Grey of Wilton. Guildford Dudley disliked Jane and she in turn detested him and refused to marry him as she was betrothed to the earl of Somerset's son Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford so she was beaten and forced into marriage on 25.5.1553. Dudley's plans eventually came to nothing. Jane and Guildford were executed in 1554, Katherine was forced to divorce Pembroke then married lord Hertford (Somerset's son). Mary broke her engagement to Lord Grey, married Elizabeth I's Sergeant Porter and died penniless and disgraced in 1578. Dudley then pressured Edward to make a Will to change the succession. The first draft of Edward's "Device for the Succession" set out that if he should died without heirs the following were to succeed him the heir males of (1) Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk (2) Jane Grey (3) Katherine Grey (4) Mary Grey (5) any other daughters of the Duchess of Suffolk (6) Margaret Clifford, daughter of Eleanor Brandon (d. 1547), countess of Cumberland (7) the heirs male of their daughters. In the second draft (which may have been forged) he set out that the crown should come directly to Jane Grey. On 10.6.1553 Edward's doctors said he would not live for more than 3 days so Dudley brought in a professor from Oxford, his own doctor and a female quack who gave the young king stimulants which contained arsenic. During the last days of his illness he legs and arms swelled up, his skin became dark, his nails and hair fell out and his fingers and toes became gangrenous. The laundress who washed his clothes lost the nails and skin of her fingers so Edward's death was not just the result of tuberculosis but also of poisoning. On the 11th the Lord Chief Justice Sir Edward Montague, the Solicitor General Sir John Baker and the Attorney General Bromley were called to Greenwich Palace and Edward asked them to draw up Letters Patent to settle the succession. They asked for time to study his document and were summoned by the Council to Northumberland's palace at Ely Place, Holborn but refused to sign the document without the consent of Parliament. They were summoned to Greenwich the next day and Montague asked for a licence under the Great Seal but Northumberland refused to allow this but agreed that those who signed the document would be pardoned. More than 100 signed except Cecil who stayed away saying he was ill and Cranmer who refused to sign. Dudley planned to kidnap and imprison Princess Mary so sent her a letter saying Edward wanted to see her for the last time but she was warned by the Spanish ambassador and fled to Suffolk. Edward died on 6.7.1553 but his death was kept secret until the 10th. His body was not embalmed nor put in a coffin and was buried on 8.8.1553 after Mary succeeded. On 11.7.1553 Bishop Nicholas Ridley preached a sermon declaring both Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate. Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen on 10.7.1553 and was detained weeping in the royal apartments in the Tower of London. Everyone flocked to Mary Tudor and on 19.7.1553 even Lord Grey recognised her as queen, arresting his own daughter. Dudley gave himself up and was sent to the Tower. Jane and Guildford Dudley were sentenced to death but reprieved until 12.2.1554 when they were executed 6 days after Thomas Wyatt's Rebellion (against Mary's marriage with her cousin Philip II of Spain) was put down. Jane's father, the duke of Sufoflk, was executed on 23.2.1554, Thomas Wyatt on 12.4.1554 and on 28.4.1554 Jane's uncle Thomas Grey but his brother John was pardoned. On
18.1.1555 the Chancellor, with several lords of the Council, were sent to
the Tower but were later released. They
were Sir James Crofts, Sir George Harper, Sir Gawain Carew, Sir Nicholas
Throgmorton, Robert and/or William Winter (in one account Robert Winter),
Master Vaughan, Sir Edward Varner, the Bishop of York, Master Rogers and
"divers odur presonars and after there was a gret shottiing of gones". All her life Mary clung to Catholicism although this meant separation from her father and quarrels with her brother Edward who was such staunch Protestant that, not only did he compose a new prayer book (which caused a rebellion) but at his coronation he asked for the Bible to be carried in front of the three swords symbolising his three earthly kingdoms. Early in 1554 Mary married by proxy her cousin Philip II of Hapsburg, king of Spain (son of Juana "la Loca" and Philip "the Fair" of Hapsburg, duke of Burgundy) which caused great controversy and rebellion in England. The marriage, a purely political alliance, was arranged by Philip's father the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Hapsburg, king of Spain but Mary fell violently in love with her husband who soon abandoned her because she could not have children. William Winter had been appointed Surveyor of the Navy in 1549 (the year of the Prayer Book rebellion) after the death of William Gonson. Letters Patent of Philip & Mary dated 2.11.1557 refer to a patent of Edward IV appointing William Winter to be "Surveyor of our Ships" and then "Master of our Ordnance of our Ships" (Add. MSS. 752 fo.6b), a post his father John Winter held under Henry VIII. His brother George Winter was made Clerk of the King's Ships and is mentioned in an order of Elizabeth I dated 16.7.1563 to Lord Clinton, Lord High Admiral to deliver certain stores to George Winter "Clerk of our Ships". On 6.11.1544 a plot was hatched to place Elizabeth on the throne. According to their indictment (Placita Coram Rege KB27/aa74 Rex V) the conspirators, led by Sir Thomas Wyatt (son of the poet who was Anne Boleyn's suitor) were Sir Peter Carew, Sir James Crofts (later Sir William Winter's partner in the London Merchants Company), Sir Nicholas Arnold, Sir William Pickering, Sir Edward Rogers (possibly of Cannington, Somerset and son-in-law of George Winter of Dyrham), William Winter, Sir George Harper and William Thomas. "In
the year 1553, the 3rd of February, Sir Thomas Wyat, and the Kentish men,
marched from Depeford towards London; after knowledge whereof, forthwith
the drawbridge (at London Bridge) was cut down and the bridge gates shut.
Wyat and his people entered Southwarke where they lay till 6th of February
but could get no entry of the city by the bridge, the same was then so
well defended by the citizens, the Lord William Howard assisting,
wherefore he removed towards Kingstone"
("Survey
of London" - John
Stowe . Wyatt,
then aged 23, had his headquarters at Rochester.
His fellow-conspirator Winter,
commanded a fleet which brought him ordnance to his headquarters.
(Cassell's
History of England p.359). The first group who were sent to the Tower on 20.2.1554 were William Winter, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton (who had been knighted by Edward VI and became Elizabeth's ambassador in France) and William Thomas. They were examined in an attempt to implicate Elizabeth or Courtenay or both of them. The conspirators wanted Courtenay, a Yorkist heir, to marry Elizabeth. He was descended from Sir William Courtenay who married Catherine Plantagenet, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. On 7.4.1544 a True Bill was found in the Guildhall before the Lord Mayor against Throgmorton, Crofts, Arnold, Carew, Pickering, Rogers, Winter and Warner who were charged with conspiring with Wyatt, Harper and others in London on 16.11.1553, with seizing the Tower and levying war against the queen to deprive her of her royal title (KB. 329 R.2 Controlment Rolls of the Courts of the King's Bench). Winter, Warner, Rogers and Arnold were never brought to trial, Winter was pardoned on the 10.11.1544. Throgmorton was imprisoned and tried but later released. The Duke of Suffolk was tried and executed, so was his brother Thomas Grey. Only John Grey escaped. Sir Thomas Wyatt, Anne Boleyn's cousin was executed on 15.3.1553. Cromer and Rudstone, also involved, were nephews of Sir Nicholas Wootton, Mary's ambassador in France and were reprieved. Many of the conspirators paid fines but not Rogers or Winter. Many of Wyatt's supporters fled to France and Germany in 1555 after rumours of a plot to surround Hampton Court and assassinate all Spaniards and queen Mary. When Calais fell in 1558, Dudley, Ashton and several others were in France. "The Chronicle of Queen Jane and 2 years of Queen Mary and especially of the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt" was a pocket diary from July 1553 to October 1554 (Harleian MS 194) belonging to John Stow. It may have originally belonged to the family or descendants of Rowland Lea (d. 1543), Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, Lord President of Wales as his name was printed by Stow in the margin of his MSS. The writer dined with Jane Grey in the house of "Master Partridge" possibly Affabel Partriche, goldsmith to Queen Mary who was in the Tower about 25.7.1554 according to a Royal warrant by the Treasurer ordering him to deliver up jewels in the Tower. There is a scrap of paper in a different handwriting to the diary addressed to Peckham probably Sir Edmund Peckham, knight of Denham, Buckinghamshire, Cofferer of the Household to Henry VIII, Edward VI and Treasurer of the Mint to Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. His son Henry Peckham was hanged with one John Daniel at Tower Hill on.7.7.1556 for treason against Queen Mary, their heads being displayed on Tower Bridge and their bodies buried at All Hallows, Barking. The Chronicle related: "Tuesday
the xxth of February the lorde John Graye rode to Westminster, who having
the goot could not go on foote, to be arrayned; whence he cam about ij of
the clock agayn to the Tower, condempned to dye.
This daie was maister William Thomas, late clerke of the counsell,
brought into the Tower as prysonner; so was maister Winter and Sir Nicholas Throgmorton the same night. The
xvijth of Aprell 1554 were ledd to the yelde (guild) hall, to be arrayned,
sir Nicholas Throgmorton and sir James Croftes, master Robert Winter and Cuthbert Vaughan being also ledd thether to
wytness against them, where that daye no more arrayned but sir Nicholas
Throgmorton, who tarrying from vijth of the cloth untyll allmost v at
night, was by verdyt quitt, wherat maney people rejoyced. Sir Nicholas Throgmorton's talke at the barre was this; he
pleaded not gilty and that he was concenting to nothing &c
The juries names is ------ which quit him; wherefore they were
commanded to be redy before the counsell at an hower's warnyng, on the
loss of vc.li a pece. The
(19th) daie of Maye, the lady Elizabeth was carried out of the Tower by
water to --- (Richmond)
and thence to Woodestoke wher she remayneth as prysoner, safe kept by the
lorde Williams. The xxv daie
of Maye was the lorde Courtney, in the morning, convaied to (Fotheringay)
ther as prysoner in safe keeping of ----- in this moneth master Winter and master Yorke were delivered". Not only did William Winter supply Wyatt with guns and ammunition from his squadron in the Medway but also acted as go-between for Sir Nicholas Throgmorton and Wyatt according to his own confession at the trial of the former on 17.4.1553. Winter's cousin Edward Underhill "the Hot Gospellor" wrote a diary about Wyatt's Rebellion ("The Queen & the Rebel" - Eric Simons). According to this Throgmorton said at his trial that when he was in the Tower one day, he told Winter that Wyatt (then at Allington Castle) was looking for him. At a second meeting Winter told Wyatt that the men of Allington disliked the idea of the Spanish marriage because Spaniards would over-run the country. Winter himself had heard rumours of their arrival and had seen them "scattered like soldiers." Wyatt suggested capturing the Tower which Winter & Throgmorton disagreed with. The royal ships under Winter's command were lying in the Thames below Gravesend to bring Philip from Spain. When Throgmorton asked if he was in charge and when they would be ready Winter replied "Within days". Throgmorton expressed fear that they would fall into French hands but Winter replied he had little fear of them and would handle the Queen's ships so they would be perfectly safe. They met again after Winter had left the Imperial ambassador from whom he received a gold chain from the Emperor which he showed Throgmorton who scoffed that he had sold his country for a chain. Winter retorted that neither French king nor Spanish Emperor could make him sell his country - he would always remain a true Englishman. Winter, his officers and crew came over to Wyatt at Rochester bringing arms and guns from the ships. Winter was sentenced to death but was pardoned in November 1554. He retained his Surveyorship of the Navy and even escorted Philip II on his return to Spain. His brotherGeorge Winter of Dyrham was made Treasurer to the Navy in the reign of Philip & Mary. "The epistle of Poor Pratte to Gilbert Potter" dated xiij of July" was a libel printed by a tradesman Hugh Singleton, 3 copies of which were scattered abroad. When Queen Jane was proclaimed in London a young man named Gilbert Potter, a drawer at a tavern called the St. John's Head within Ludgate said that Queen Mary had the better title. He was arrested immediately and had his ears cut off after being nailed to the pillory in the Chepe. He was accused by Ninion Saunders, his master who was later drowned with John Owen, a gunmaker, when crossing the Thames near London Bridge by boat - they were both gunners in the Tower of London (Sir William was in charge of the Ordnance). On 30th May 1st Mary (1553), Gilbert Potter received a grant of several messuages, lands &c in South Lynn, Norfolk, formerly in the tenure of Thomas Winter, belonging to Blackburgh Priory, to be held by knight's service - he also had licence to alienate them to George and Thomas Eden. There was another rebellion led by Sir Henry Dudley, second son of John Sutton de Dudley and younger brother of Edmund Sutton, 4th baron Dudley. His mother was Cecily, daughter of Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, kinsman of the Duke of John Dudley. Involved in this rebellion was John Throgmorton of Tortworth Gorseland, Gloucestershire, son of Sir Thomas Throgmorton of Coughton, Warwickshire who was related to Sir George Throgmorton (father of Katherine, wife of Robert Winter of Huddington). John Throgmorton went to the block, Nicholas did not and sat as MP in Elizabeth's first parliament. Amongst those questioned after the conspiracy were Lord Grey, Lord Thomas Howard, Nicholas Arnold, Nicholas Throgmorton, Edmund and Francis Verney and Anthony Kingston, Comptroller of the Queen's Household, MP for Gloucester in the Parliaments of 1545, 1552-3 and 1555. Anthony Kingston, son of Sir William Kingston (d. 14.9.1540) of Painsworth, Gloucestershire, was given Flaxley Abbey Prinknash Park, formerly property of St. Peters Abbey, Gloucester and the manor of Miserden, Gloucestershire after the Dissolution. He was a friend of Henry VIII and a Privy Councillor, fought at Flodden, jousted on the Field of the Cloth of Gold, helped put down the "Pilgrimage of Grace" in 1536-7 with great butchery and was knighted. He was made Provost Marshall and had suppressed the Prayer Book rebellion in 1549 with great cruelty and supervised the execution of Hooper, Protestant bishop of Gloucester. He signed a petition to Pope Clement VII supporting the king's divorce from Catalina of Aragon, arrested Wolsey and was with him when he died. He was at Anne Boleyn's coronation, his wife attended her in the Tower and he supervised her execution. In 1556 he was arrested for robbing the Exchequer and committed suicide on his way to London. William Courtenay was Anthony Kingston's step-son and kinsman of the earl of Devon. Henry Peckham, the Verneys and Lord Bray were from Buckinghamshire. The Verneys, sons of Ralph Verney, were MPs. Lord John Bray, their maternal uncle, was grandson of Sir Reginald Bray confidant and minister of Henry VIII and married Anne, daughter of Francis Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury (into whose family the Winters of Huddington married); he and his nephews were soldiers. Sir Reginald Bray and John Morton, bishop of Ely, were Henry VII's financial advisers. Sir Reginald was Steward of the Household to Sir Henry Stafford, 2nd husband of Margaret Beaufort and stayed in her service after she married Lord Stanley. Bishop Morton used Bray as an agent in negotiating the marriage of Henry VII with Elizabeth of York and he was made a Knight of the Bath and High Steward of Oxford University. He was involved in building Henry VII's chapel, Westminster and was with the King's Works at St. Georges Chapel, Windsor. |