Nicholas Strelley

Last updated October 23, 2024

Nicholas Strelley or Strelly or Styrley (died 1560) was an English soldier and captain of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Career

Nicholas Strelley was a member of a family residing at Strelley Village. His father (died 1491) was also called Nicholas Strelley, and his mother was Katherine, a daughter of Richard West, 7th Baron De La Warr.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In May 1531, Strelley was Lieutenant of Sherwood Forest, and was asked to make a survey of the numbers of deer by royal commissioners. Strelley delayed and explained that it was the wrong time of year to disturb the deer.^[4]

During the Pilgrimage of Grace, Strelley came to Nottingham Castle with Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, who sent him to report to Henry VIII. Henry replied that he sending Roger Ratcliffe, as an expert in wars, to advise on the fortification of Nottingham. Strelley, a "substantial gentleman", was sent to garrison Tickhill Castle near Doncaster with 100 foot soldiers and six cannon.^[5]

Strelley obtained Beauchief Abbey in 1537, paying £223 for the abbey site and the grange of Strawberry Lea at Totley.^[6] The old farmstead at Strawberry Lee was demolished in 1936.^[7]

Strelley was captain of Berwick at the Scottish border for Henry VIII and Edward VI. In June 1545 he was sent to Berwick to make improvements.^[8] Following Strelley's observations on the state of Berwick Castle in 1547, orders were given by the Privy Council to Thomas Gower to refurbish or construct a new brewhouse, and to level the rampart between the castle and town.^[9]

Strelley had difficulty with the competing jurisdiction of the mayor of Berwick, and complained that markets in the town were not regulated according to statute. This put the garrison at a disadvantage as local supplies were made more expensive.^[10] He was appointed deputy-warden of the East March in December 1551, but lost this second post in August 1552 when it was decided that border officers ought to hold only one position.^[11]

He died on 25 August 1560 and was buried at All Saints' Church, Strelley, where there is a monument.

Marriage and family

He married three times. First; Sarah Digby, second; Ellen Gresley, and third; Elizabeth or Isabel Spencer, a daughter of John Spencer. His children included:^[12]

Anthony Strelley, who married Jane, a daughter of Sir George Baynham of Clearwell
Nicholas Strelley of Beauchief Abbey (died 1602), who married Bridget Thwaites (died 1591).^[13]
John Strelley, who married Anne, daughter of Sir George Baynham
Margaret Strelley, who married Richard White, a brother of Susan Clarencieux, and was the mother of George White (died 1584)
Alice Strelley, who married John Byron
Jane Strelley, who married the explorer Hugh Willoughby
Robert Strelley, who married Frideswide Knight. It has also been suggested that Robert Strelley's father was Nicholas Strelley of Linby, who made Nicholas Strelley of Strelley the remainder man in his will.^[14]

Related Research Articles

John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford was an English royal minister in the Tudor era. He served variously as Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal. Among the lands and property he was given by Henry VIII after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, were the Abbey and town of Tavistock, and the area that is now Covent Garden. Russell is the ancestor of all subsequent Earls and Dukes of Bedford and Earls Russell, including John Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and philosopher Bertrand Russell.

Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon,, was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the patron of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, William Shakespeare's playing company. The son of Mary Boleyn, he was a cousin of Elizabeth I.

Sir Thomas Cheney KG of the Blackfriars, City of London and Shurland, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, was an English administrator and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in south-east England from 1536 until his death.

Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry VIII in 1525.

Sir Richard Lee (1513–1575) was a military engineer in the service of Henry VIII of England, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was a commander of Henry VIII and appointed surveyor of the King's works. Lee was member of parliament for Hertfordshire in 1545. He was the first English engineer to be knighted.

Sir Valentine Browne, of Croft, Lincolnshire, was auditor, treasurer and victualler of Berwick-upon-Tweed. He acquired large estates in Ireland during the Plantation of Munster, in particular the seignory of Molahiffe. He lived at Ross Castle near Killarney, County Kerry. He was MP in three English and one Irish parliaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton</span> English baron

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton, was an English baron and military commander serving in France in the 1540s and 1550s, and in the Scottish Wars of the 1540s.

Robert Steward was an English cleric who served as the last prior of the Benedictine Ely Abbey, in Cambridgeshire, and as the first Dean of Ely Cathedral which replaced it at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, styled The Honourable George Carpenter until 1761 and Viscount Carlingford between 1761 and 1762, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 30 years from 1772 to 1802.

John Carey, 3rd Baron Hunsdon was an English peer, politician and Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Sir Patrick Hume, of Polwarth and Redbraes was a Scottish landowner, courtier and makar.

William Eure, 1st Baron Eure (c.1483–1548) of Witton was an English knight and soldier active on the Anglo-Scottish border. Henry VIII of England made him Baron Eure by patent in 1544. The surname is often written as "Evers". William was Governor of Berwick upon Tweed in 1539, Commander in the North in 1542, Warden of the Eastern March, and High Sheriff of Durham. During the Anglo-Scottish war called the Rough Wooing, Eure and his sons Henry and Ralph made numerous raids against towns and farms in the Scottish Borders.

Sir Henry Widdrington was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1604 to 1622.

Sir John Digby of Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, was Knight Marshal for King Henry VIII.

Elizabeth Howard (1564—1646) was an English aristocrat and courtier to Elizabeth I of England.

William Eure, 4th Baron Eure was an English nobleman.

Giovanni Portinari was an Italian military engineer who served several Tudor monarchs of England. He is most famous for organising the demolition of Lewes Priory in 1538 on the orders of Thomas Cromwell, the chief minister of King Henry VIII.

John Crane was a soldier and comptroller of works at Berwick-upon-Tweed during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James VI and I.

Frideswide Strelley, was an English courtier. She served as chamberer to Queen Mary I from 1536 onward.

John Habington or Abington (1515-1581) was an English courtier and administrator.

References

↑ George Marshall, Visitations of the County of Nottingham 1559–1614 (London, 1871), p. 20.
↑ Charles Kerry, "Notes to the pedigree of the Strelleys", Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, p. 93
↑ Collections for a History of Staffordshire, 19:1 (London, 1898), p. 282.
↑ HMC 12th Report Part IV, Duke of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), pp. 24–25.
↑ James Gairdner, Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, 11 (London, 1888), p. 417 nos. 1037, 1038, 454–455 no. 1136: Howard Colvin, History of the King's Works, 3:1 (London: HMSO, 1975), p. 284.
↑ Henry Kirke, "Abbey of Beauchief", Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, 7 (London, 1867), p. 205.
↑ David Hey, A History of the Peak District Moors (Pen & Sword, 2014), p. 67.
↑ J. S. Brewer, Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, 1:1, p. 436 no. 837: State Papers Henry the Eighth, 5:2 (London, 1836), p. 454.
↑ John Roche Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council, 2 (London, 1890), p. 474.
↑ HMC 12th Report Part IV, Duke of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), pp. 53–54.
↑ Charles H. Hunter Blair, "Wardens and deputy wardens of the Marches of England towards Scotland in Northumberland and the English wardens of Berwick upon Tweed", Archaeologia Aeliana, 28 (1950), pp. 70, 95. doi : 10.5284/1060129: John Gough Nichols, Literary remains of Edward VI, 2, p. 448.
↑ George Marshall, Visitations of the County of Nottingham 1559–1614 (London, 1871), p. 22.
↑ Joseph Hunter, Hallamshire, p. 199.
↑ House of Commons, 1509-1558, p. 398.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] George Marshall, Visitations of the County of Nottingham 1559–1614 (London, 1871), p. 20.

[2] Charles Kerry, "Notes to the pedigree of the Strelleys", Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, p. 93

[3] Collections for a History of Staffordshire, 19:1 (London, 1898), p. 282.

[4] HMC 12th Report Part IV, Duke of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), pp. 24–25.

[5] James Gairdner, Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, 11 (London, 1888), p. 417 nos. 1037, 1038, 454–455 no. 1136: Howard Colvin, History of the King's Works, 3:1 (London: HMSO, 1975), p. 284.

[6] Henry Kirke, "Abbey of Beauchief", Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, 7 (London, 1867), p. 205.

[7] David Hey, A History of the Peak District Moors (Pen & Sword, 2014), p. 67.

[8] J. S. Brewer, Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, 1:1, p. 436 no. 837: State Papers Henry the Eighth, 5:2 (London, 1836), p. 454.

[9] John Roche Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council, 2 (London, 1890), p. 474.

[10] HMC 12th Report Part IV, Duke of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), pp. 53–54.

[11] Charles H. Hunter Blair, "Wardens and deputy wardens of the Marches of England towards Scotland in Northumberland and the English wardens of Berwick upon Tweed", Archaeologia Aeliana, 28 (1950), pp. 70, 95. doi : 10.5284/1060129: John Gough Nichols, Literary remains of Edward VI, 2, p. 448.

[12] George Marshall, Visitations of the County of Nottingham 1559–1614 (London, 1871), p. 22.

[13] Joseph Hunter, Hallamshire, p. 199.

[14] House of Commons, 1509-1558, p. 398.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]