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John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford

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John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford
Personal details
Born1465/1466
Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England
Died29 June 1537[1] (aged c. 70)
Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Spouse(s)Margaret Blount
Anne de Grey
Children12
Parent(s)Sir William Hussey
Elizabeth Berkeley
OccupationChief Butler of England

John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford (sometimes spelled Hosey, Husey, Hussie, Huse;[2] 1465/1466 – 29 June 1537) was Chief Butler of England[3] from 1521 until his death. He was a member of the House of Lords, and a Chamberlain to King Henry VIII's daughter, Mary I of England.

Early years

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Hussey was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, son of Sir William Hussey, an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench.[4] His mother was the former Elizabeth Berkeley.[4] Hussey's siblings included Sir Robert Hussey (d. 1546),[4] the father of Elizabeth Hussey, the 'Mistress Crane' at whose home at East Molesey the first of the Marprelate tracts, Martin's Epistle, was printed in October 1588; Elizabeth Hussey, who married Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent; and Mary Hussey, who married William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby.

In 1497, at the Battle of Blackheath, Hussey was knighted. Six years later, he was made "Knight of the Body", bodyguard to King Henry VII, followed by an appointment as "Master of Lyfield Forest", Rutland in 1505 and Comptroller of the Household in 1509. On 16 August 1513, at Tournai, after the Battle of the Spurs, he and his brother William were promoted to Knights Banneret by Henry VIII.

Career

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In 1493 Hussey was appointed Sheriff of Lincolnshire and by 1513 he was custos rotulorum for the county. In June 1520 he travelled to France to take part in the Field of the Cloth of Gold meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I, King of France. On 6 July 1523, he was elected Member of Parliament as a knight of the shire for Lincolnshire. Three years later, on 5 February 1526, he was appointed a judge.

He was created Lord Hussey, of Sleaford, by King Henry VIII in 1529.[5] On 3 November 1529 he was re-elected to Parliament as knight of the shire for Lincolnshire but received a Writs of Summons on 1 December 1529 to the House of Lords as 'Johannes Hussey de sleford, chivaler'. In June 1530, Hussey was named Lincolnshire Castle's Commissioner for Gaol Delivery, and later that same year, Hussey sold some of his large holdings (the Somersetshire manors of Batheaston, Bathampton, Bathford, Twerton; the Wiltshire manors of Compton Bassett, Comerwell, and North Wraxall).[6]

Henry VIII "lodged" at Hussey's Sleaford estate where he held court the next morning before venturing to York to meet with the King of Scotland.[7]

On 10 September 1533, Lord Hussey attended the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and carried the canopy over the three-day-old child with George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, Lord Thomas Howard, and William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham.[8]

Hussey was Chamberlain to King Henry's daughter, Mary, while Hussey's second wife, Lady Anne, was one of Mary's attendants. Though King Henry forbade anyone from calling his daughter, Mary, by the title of Princess, Lady Anne did do so, after which she lost her attendant position around June 1534 and was imprisoned in the Tower of London in August. Asking for the King's pardon, she was released before the end of the year.[9][unreliable source]

In addition to his responsibilities at Court and Parliament, Hussey was steward to John Longland, the conservative Bishop of Lincoln,[10] and King Henry's confessor.[11]

Downfall

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Hussey Tower: The ruins of Lord Hussey's medieval manor house – Hussey Tower – are all that is left following the orders of King Henry VIII to destroy it.[12][13]

Hussey was implicated along with his cousin Lord Darcy as complicit in the 1536 uprising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Though Hussey denied participation in the rebellion, he was accused of conspiring to change laws and depose the king, and that he abetted those who made war on the king in October 1536.[14] The charges may have been levied in part because of Hussey's Catholic sympathies,[15] and because Hussey and his wife, having served 'Princess' Mary, were partisans on her behalf.[16] Hussey was indicted and tried for treason, and found guilty by the House of Lords. He was beheaded in Lincoln on 29 June 1537,[1] while his cousin, Thomas Darcy, was executed on Tower Hill.[9] Hussey's statement ("confession") survives.[17]

Family

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John Hussey firstly married Margaret Barr (née Blount), widow of Sir John Barr and daughter of Sir Simon Blount,[18][19][20] around 1492 at Keynsham, Gloucestershire, by whom he had issue:[21]

  • Sir William Hussey (c. 1493 – 19 January 1556)
  • Thomas Hussey (c. 1495)
  • Gilbert Hussey (c. 1499)

John Hussey secondly married Lady Anne Grey in 1509 at Sleaford, Lincolnshire. According to historian Sir William Dugdale, in the documents written by Hussey, shortly before his death in 1537, he speaks of his wife as 'Anne'.[22] She was the daughter of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent – by his second wife, Catherine Herbert. Lady Anne's paternal grandmother was Lady Katherine Percy, the great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England.[23] John Hussey and Lady Anne Grey had issue, including:[9]

After his execution, Hussey's home in Sleaford,[28] as well as his other estates, were confiscated by the crown. In 1563, his children were restored in Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, but Hussey's title was forfeited, and the estates were not returned.[9]

Claim of Hussey Barony

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Lord Hussey's brother – Sir Robert Hussey and his son Sir Charles Hussey – adapted to the political requirements of the recently established Church of England; both serving in the office of sheriff.[29] However, the descendants of the anti-Church of England Lord Hussey, whose barony and estates were forfeited, were left in far less secure positions, both regarding their financial and social status.

Lord Hussey's descendants included Molineux Disney, a direct descendant of Sir William Hussey, who was the "Son and Heir to the said John Lord Hussey". On 21 March 1680, Molineux Disney made a claim to King Charles II that as, "son and heir, in the direct line to Lord Hussey" he was entitled to claim the Hussey barony. However, W. B. Turnbull noted in 1836 that "no entry occurs in the Lords' Journal relative to any proceedings upon it". Molineux had apparently withdrawn his application.[30]

Honours

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  • 6 December 1533, John Fewterer, Confessor-General of Syon Abbey, dedicated his book, The myrrour or glasse of Christes passion, to "the Honorable 'Lord Husey', from Syon".[9][31]

References

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  1. ^ a b Doe, Norman (2004). "Hussey, Sir William (d. 1495)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14271. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "Last name: Hussy". surnamedb.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  3. ^ Maddison, A.R.; Larken, A.S. (1903). Lincolnshire Pedigrees. Lincolnshire: Ye Wardovr Press. p. 527. OCLC 3978908. hussey sleaford butler.
  4. ^ a b c Gunn 2016, p. xvi.
  5. ^ Moule, Thomas (1837). "The English Counties Delineated, Volume 2". Virtue. p. 192. Retrieved 4 November 2017. He was created Lord Hussey, of Sleaford, by King Henry VIII in 1529.
  6. ^ "Medieval Deeds of Bath and District"
  7. ^ White, William (1872). History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire, and the City and Diocese of Lincoln: Comprising a General Survey of the County : and Separate Historical, Statistical and Topographical Descriptions of All the Wapentakes, Hundreds, Sokes, Boroughs... Chapter – Sleaford (Old). W. White. p. 636. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  8. ^ Stanley, Earl of Derby, Edward (1890). Correspondence of Edward, Third Earl of Derby, During the Years 24 to 31 Henry VIII.: Preserved in a Ms. in the Possession of Miss Pfarington, of Worden Hall, Volume 19. Chetham Society. p. 89.
  9. ^ a b c d e "John HUSSEY (1st B. Hussey of Sleaford)". tudorplace.com.ar. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Annex A, Prominent Sleafordians and Local History". artistpetermontgomery.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ Fideler, P.A.; Mayer, T.F. (1992). Political Thought and the Tudor Commonwealth. Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 0-415-06672-7.
  12. ^ "Hussey Tower and King Henry VIII". lincolnshire.org. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  13. ^ Poole, David, ed. (21 November 2017). "House and Heritage – Hussey Tower, LINCOLNSHIRE". Heritage Gazette. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  14. ^ Hoyle, R.W. (2001). The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s. Oxford University Press. p. 407. ISBN 0-19-925906-2.
  15. ^ Hoyle 2001:159
  16. ^ Hoyle 2001:67
  17. ^ Hoyle 2001:25
  18. ^ Creasey, James (1825). "Sketches, illustrative of the topography and history of new and old Sleaford – Genealogy and Biography – Hussey Family". James Creasey. p. 108. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  19. ^ Reslen, E. (21 November 2017). "Town and Country Magazine". Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Family Tree – Lord Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford m. (married) Dame Margaret Barr nee Blount...
  20. ^ Cracroft. "Cracroft's Peerage – The Complete Guide to the British Peerage & Baronetage – John Hussey, Baron (E, created 1529 – forfeited 1537)". Heraldic Media. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  21. ^ Burke, B. (1866). "A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire". Harrison. p. 294. Retrieved 31 October 2017. N.B. Burke's has order of Hussey's marriages incorrect – Hussey married Margaret Blount, daughter of Sir Simon Blount, first and Lady Anne second.
  22. ^ Dugdale, Sir William (1894). J.W. Clay (ed.). Visitations of Yorkshire, WITH ADDITIONS. W. Pollard & Company. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  23. ^ Burke, B.; Burke, J. (1866). A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348.
  24. ^ Collins, Arthur (1720). "The Baronettage of England: Being an Historical and Genealogical Account of Baronets from Their First Institution in the Reign of King James I : Containing Their Descents, the Remarkable Actions and Employments of Them and Their Ancestors, as Also Their Marriages, Issue, &c., with Their Coats of Arms and Crests Engrav'd and Blazon'd, Volume 1". W. Taylor. p. 258. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  25. ^ Peile, John (25 September 2014). Biographical Register of Christ's College, 1505–1905. Cambridge University Press. p. 38. ISBN 9781107426047. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  26. ^ Angerville, H. (1959). Living descendants of blood royal, Volume 1. Madison: World Nobility and Peerage.
  27. ^ Foster 1883, p. 93.
  28. ^ "Sleaford History". sleaford.gov.uk. 2006. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  29. ^ Burke, J. (1841). "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland". Scott, Webster, and Geary. p. 275). Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  30. ^ Disney, Molineux (1836). Claim of Molineux Disney, esq. to the barony of Hussey (21st March, 1680) – with remarks by W. B. Turnbull. Edinburgh Printing Company. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  31. ^ Salter, Elizabeth (17 March 1964). "Ludolphus of Saxony and His English Translators". Medium Ævum. 33 (1): 26–35. doi:10.2307/43627069. JSTOR 43627069.

Sources

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Peerage of England
New creation Baron Hussey
1529–1537 		Forfeit
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