Sir Ambrose Turvile, (1581-1628), Courtier and cupbearer to

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. Some older genealogy references refer to him as Sir Thomas Turville. He was the son of Geoffrey Turville, of Towerbank, All Hallows, Barking, London, and Mary Blakney or Blakeney (d. 1642) of Sparham, Norfolk. His mother was married three times. The Turvile family estates were at

Thurlaston, Leicestershire Thurlaston is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England. It is in the Blaby (district), Blaby local government district, just over west of the City of Leicester. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census stated that the parish ha ...

, however Ambrose's father was a younger son working at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. His sister Ann Turvile married Sir John Leeke of Edmonton. His step-sister by his mother's second marriage to William St Barbe, Ursula St Barbe (1587-1670) married Sir Francis Verney (d. 1615), a son of his mother's third husband Sir Edmund Verney (d. 1599) and his second wife Audrey Gardner (d. 1588) widow of Sir Peter Carew. After Francis's death, in 1619 Ursula married William son of Sir William Clark of Hitcham, and thirdly John Chicely. Ambrose was knighted by

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

on 11 May 1603 and became Member of Parliament for

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

in 1604. He died in 1628.

Court service

Ambrose was a cupbearer or sewer in the household of Anne of Denmark. He bought the office from Sir Archibald Murray. His mother, now after her third marriage Lady Mary Verney, joined him as a gentlewoman in the queen's privy chamber. He was again a cupbearer for

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

. His half-brother Edmund Verney (1590-1642) followed him into court service as a cupbearer to

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612), was the eldest son and heir apparent of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland; and his wife Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuar ...

in 1611, with a recommendation from Princess Elizabeth solicited by Mary Verney. The letter mentioned his half-brother, Sir Francis Verney, who had become a

Barbary corsair The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe as the ...

and was said to have converted to Islam. Edmund Verney was later a gentleman of the privy chamber to

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

Family

Ambrose married Eleanor (or Joan) Brydges, daughter of

William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos (ca. 1552 – 1602) was an English peer and politician. He was the younger son and heir of Edmund Brydges, 2nd Baron Chandos and Dorothy, the youngest daughter and child of Sir Edmund Braye, 1st Baron B ...

and Mary Hopton, and sister of the Frances Brydges, second wife of

Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG (5 May 1542 – 8 February 1623), known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier. Family Thomas Cecil was the elder son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, b ...

. She died of smallpox in July 1616. Their children included; * Sir Frederick Turvile, married Frances Ashburnham daughter of

Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond (1576/77 – 1651) was an English writer and peeress.George Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, 1887–98 She is remembered for her collections of prayers. Biography Born Elizabeth Beaumont, she was the ...

. * Sir Francis Turvile (d. 1623), buried at

Langley, Berkshire Langley, also known as Langley Marish, is a suburb of Slough in Berkshire, South East England. It is east of the town centre of Slough, and west of Charing Cross in Central London. It was a separate civil parish until the 1930s, when the built ...

.'Parishes: Langley Marsh', in ''A History of the County of Buckingham'', vol. 3, ed. William Page (London, 1925), pp. 294-301. British History Online
ccessed 20 July 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turvile, Ambrose 1581 births 1628 deaths 17th-century English people Court of James VI and I Verney family English MPs 1604–1611 Household of Anne of Denmark Members of the Parliament of England for Minehead