Life
The son of Sir Edward Chamberlayne of Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire, by Cicely, daughter of Sir John Verney, he was brother of the Members of Parliament Edward Chamberlain and Ralph Chamberlain. [1] He succeeded his father about 1543 as keeper of Woodstock Park. In 1542 he obtained from the crown a grant of Hampton Poyle; and the following year the king granted to him and Richard Andrews land in several counties, including abbey lands and other ecclesiastical property. He was High Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxfordshire in 1546–7, and at the funeral of Henry VIII he bore the banner of the king and Queen Catherine Parr. [2]
In October 1549 members of the privy council opposed to Protector Somerset required Sir John Markham, the lieutenant of the Tower of London, to bring Sir Edmund Peckham and Chamberlain in to strengthen the Tower guard. At the end of the reign of Edward VI, Chamberlain served for a second time as of Sheriff of Berkshire. On 22 July 1553 the privy council wrote to Sir John Williams, Chamberlain, and others of the gentry of Oxfordshire, directing them to dismiss soldiers (a muster to ensure Mary Tudor's succession, while Lady Jane Grey was a claimant) and repair to Queen Mary I of England. [2]
Chamberlain was knighted by Queen Mary at Westminster on 2 October 1551, the day after her coronation, and he sat for Scarborough in the parliament which assembled on 5 September. Mary in the first year of her reign granted him the site of Dunstable Priory, and other lands in Bedfordshire. He was constituted governor of Guernsey in 1553, where he improved the works at Castle Cornet, and was returned for Oxfordshire to the parliaments which sat on 2 April and 12 November 1554. At the trials of Rowland Taylor and John Bradford for heresy in January 1555 he was involved in the proceedings. [2]
Although he was often absent from the Channel Islands, Chamberlain cooperated with William Wynter to stabilise the military position there against the French threat during the Italian War of 1551–59, paying attention to Alderney and Sark. [3] He died in Guernsey about August 1561. [2]
Catherine Carey, after her marriage Catherine Knollys and later known as both Lady Knollys and Dame Catherine Knollys,, was chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, who was her first cousin.
William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, Earl of Essex, 1st Baron Parr, 1st Baron Hart, was the only brother of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. He was a "sincere, plain, direct man, not crafty nor involved", whose "delight was music and poetry and his exercise war" who co-authored a treatise on hare coursing. He was in favour with Henry VIII and his son Edward VI, under whom he was the leader of the Protestant party, but having supported the desire of the latter to be succeeded by the Protestant Lady Jane Grey, was attainted by Edward's Catholic half-sister, Queen Mary I. He was restored by her Protestant half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I. He married thrice but died without issue.
Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys of Rycote in Oxfordshire, was an English politician and diplomat, who belonged to an old Berkshire family, many members of which had held positions at the English court.
Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baron Wentworth was an English peer, courtier, administrator and military commander during the reigns of Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. His reputation suffered through the surrender of Calais in 1558, which occurred under his command.
Sir Thomas Pope, was a prominent public servant in mid-16th-century England, a Member of Parliament, a wealthy landowner, and the founder of Trinity College, Oxford.
Knollys, Knolles or Knowles, the name of an English family descended from Sir Thomas Knollys, Lord Mayor of London, possibly a kinsman of the celebrated general Sir Robert Knolles. The next distinguished member of the family was Sir Francis Knollys or Knowles, English statesman, son of Sir Robert Knollys, or Knolles, a courtier in the service and favour of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Robert had also a younger son, Sir Henry, who took part in public life during the reign of Elizabeth I and who died in 1583. From the time of Sir Francis, the family were associated with Greys Court at Rotherfield Greys and Caversham Park, then in Oxfordshire, as well as the nearby town of Reading in Berkshire, where the family's private chapel could once be seen in the church of St Laurence. Lettice Knollys was pronounced the most prominent member of the family, from her birth in 1543 until her death in 1634
Sir Henry Bedingfeld (1505–1583), also spelled Bedingfield, of Oxburgh Hall, King's Lynn, Norfolk, was a Privy Councillor to King Edward VI and Queen Mary I, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and Captain of the guards. With Sir Henry Jerningham he was among the principals who rallied to Mary's cause following the death of Edward VI in 1553 and helped to set her upon the throne. He was a senior figure in the kinship group of Catholic recusant landowning knights of Suffolk. Given responsibility for the custody of Mary I's half-sister Elizabeth when in the Tower of London and at Woodstock, his reputation has suffered from the repetition of claims of his severity towards her: however Queen Elizabeth was respectful towards him and continued to find service for him. Among the foremost Englishmen of his time, he occupied prominent and honourable positions and was of unquestioned loyalty.
Sir Francis Knollys, KG of Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire was an English courtier in the service of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies.
Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), of Wharton and Nateby, Westmoreland, Beaulieu alias New Hall, Essex and Westminster, Middlesex, was an English peer.
Sir Edward Waldegrave was an English courtier and Catholic recusant.
Sir Henry Neville of Billingbear House, Berkshire, was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VIII.
Stephen Vaughan (1502-1549) was an English merchant, royal agent and diplomat, and supporter of the Protestant Reformation.
James Basset (1526–1558) was a gentleman from the ancient Devonshire Basset family who became a servant of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, by whom he was nominated MP for Taunton in 1553, for Downton in 1554, both episcopal boroughs. He also served thrice as MP for Devon in 1554, 1555, and 1558. He was a strong adherent to the Catholic faith during the Reformation started by King Henry VIII. After the death of King Edward VI in 1553 and the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary I, he became a courtier to that queen as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber and received many favours from both herself and her consort King Philip II of Spain.
Sir John Gates KB (1504–1553) was an English courtier, soldier and politician, holding influential household positions in the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. As one of the Chief Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber under Edward VI, he became a follower of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and was a principal participant in the attempt to establish Lady Jane Grey on the English throne. Because of this, he was executed for high treason under Mary I.
Sir William More, of Loseley, Surrey, was the son of Sir Christopher More. The great house at Loseley Park was built for him, which is still the residence of the More Molyneux family. Of Protestant sympathies, as Sheriff and Vice-Admiral of Surrey he was actively involved in local administration of the county of Surrey and in the enforcement of the Elizabethan religious settlement, and was a member of every Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was the owner of property in the Blackfriars in which the first and second Blackfriars theatres were erected. He has been described as "the perfect Elizabethan country gentleman" on account of his impeccable character and his assiduity and efficiency of service.
Sir John Spencer was an English nobleman, politician, knight, sheriff, landowner, and Member of Parliament. He was an early member of the Spencer family.
Edward Chamberlain was an English politician.
This is a list of Sheriffs of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1248 until the end of 1566, after which separate sheriffs were appointed. See High Sheriff of Berkshire and High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for dates before 1248 or after 1566.
Sir Edward Chamberlain of Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire was an English soldier knight and Member of Parliament.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Chamberlain, Leonard". Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.