Bassingbourne Gawdy (1535
– 20 January 1590
), of
West Harling
Harling is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 2,201 in 932 households at the 2001 census,Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP).
He was the second son of
Thomas Gawdy (d.1556) of
Shotesham
Shotesham () is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately 5 miles south of Norwich. It sits next to Stoke Holy Cross and Saxlingham Nethergate in the valley of the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 539 in 210 h ...
and
Redenhall, Norfolk, by his father's first wife, Anne, daughter and coheiress of John Bassingbourne of Woodhall,
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, and 39,201 at the 2011 Census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, home of the Marquess of ...
.
He was educated at
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
, matriculating in 1545, and trained in the law at the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
.
In 1557 Bassingbourne was investigated for selling wood at Middleton Hall.
[M.M. Gowdy, ed. G.T. Ridlon, ''A Family History Comprising the Surnames of Gade tc... and the Variant Forms, from A. D. 800 to A. D. 1919'', 2 vols (Journal Press, Lewiston, Me. 1919), I]
pp. 41-42
(Hathi Trust). This source is utterly confused. On 26 September 1558 Gawdy married Anne Wotten. Through her, Bassingbourne obtained property in West Harling.
He was appointed a
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
for Suffolk from c. 1573 and for Norfolk from c. 1583, and was
High Sheriff of Norfolk
The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The High Sheriff of Norfolk was originally the principal law enforcement officer in Norfolk and presided at the assizes and other imp ...
for 1578–79.
[J.H., 'Gawdy, Bassingbourne I (d.1590), of West Harling, Norf.', in P.W. Hasler (ed.), ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603'' (from Boydell and Brewer, 1981)]
History of Parliament Online
In 1584 he was elected an MP for
Eye,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
.
Bassingbourne Gawdy was buried on 25 January
1589/90 at West Harling.
Marriages
He married twice.
According to the
Visitations, his first wife was Anne (1536
–1587
), the daughter of John Wootton of
North Tuddenham
North Tuddenham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, North Tuddenham is east of East Dereham, and is close to the A47 road.
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary.
The villages name means 'Tuda's homestead/village'.
It co ...
, Norfolk,
['Hundred of Giltcross, West-Herling', in F. Blomefield, ed. C. Parkin, ''An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk'', Volume I (William Miller, London 1805), pp. 297-312]
at pp. 305-06
'St Cleere's Manor, North Tudenham', Volume X (William Miller, London 1809)
pp. 263-64
(Google). the great-niece of
Henry Wotton
Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...
, and the widow both of Thomas Woodhouse of
Hickling, Norfolk (son of
Sir William Woodhouse),
['Woodhouse', in W. Rye (ed.), ''The Visitacion of Norfolk, made and taken by William Hervey, Clarencieux King of Arms, anno 1563, enlarged with another Visitacion made by Clarenceux Cook: with many other descents (etc.)'', Harleian Society XXXII (London 1891)]
pp. 320-23, at p. 321
(Internet Archive). and of Henry Reppes of
Mendham, Suffolk
Mendham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the east bank of the River Waveney around a mile east of Harleston, in 2005 its population was 440. The parish includes the hamlets of W ...
, the widower of
Bess Holland
Elizabeth Holland (died 1547/8), commonly known as Bess Holland, was the mistress of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and maid-of-honour to his niece, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England. The daughter of the Duke's secretar ...
, and the maternal uncle of Anne Wootton's first husband.
The two were married on 26 September 1558 at
Redenhall with Harleston and
Wortwell
Wortwell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and adjoining the county of Suffolk. It is located on both the River Waveney (which forms the county boundary) and the A143 road, some 20 km east of Diss and 30 ...
. She was buried at West Harling on 9 June 1587.
["Mrs Anne Gawdye ye wife of mr Bassingborne Gawdy se.]ior The abbreviation IOR may refer to:
* Importer of record, term in import and export
* inclusive or - as opposed to XOR (exclusive OR)
* Independent Order of Rechabites
* Index of refraction
* India Office Records
* Indian Ocean Region
* Indian Ocea ...
was buried ix° Junij 1587". Parish Registers of West Harling, Norfolk, commencing 1538: Norfolk Record Office, Norwich
ref. PD 27/1
(Norfolk Record Office). By this marriage, Gawdy had two sons:
*
Bassingbourne Gawdy, who married Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Charles Framlingham, of Crow's Hall,
Debenham
Debenham is a village and civil parish located north of Ipswich in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publish ...
, Suffolk. He was knighted as Sir Bassingbourne Gawdy in 1597.
*
Philip Gawdy Philip Gawdy (13 July 1562 – 27 May 1617) was an English landowner and letter writer.
Career
Philip Gawdy was the son of Bassingbourne Gawdy, senior, and Anne Wotton. In 1588 his father married Margaret Syliard, widow of Thomas Darcy of Tollesh ...
(1562–1617). In 1591 he joined the
''Revenge'' under Sir
Richard Grenville, Knight, and was captured at the
Battle of Flores, but was redeemed and lived afterwards at West Harling. Philip's letters are held by the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
His second wife was Margaret, daughter of Eustace Sulyard, and widow of Thomas Darcy of
Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex. They married in December 1588: she died within two years, and was buried on 15 August 1590.
Portrait
His portrait was painted by
Hans Eworth
Hans Eworth (or Ewouts; ) was a Flemish painter active in England in the mid-16th century. Along with other exiled Flemings, he made a career in Tudor London, painting allegorical images as well as portraits of the gentry and nobility.''Concis ...
.
Lionel Cust
Sir Lionel Henry Cust (25 January 1859 – 12 October 1929) was a British art historian, courtier and museum director. He was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1895 to 1909 and co-edited ''The Burlington Magazine'' from 1909 to 191 ...
, in his article ''The Painter HE (‘ Hans Eworth.’)'' in a Volume of the
Walpole Society
The Walpole Society, named after Horace Walpole, was founded in 1911 to promote the study of the history of British art and artists.
From 1762 on, Walpole had published the first history of art in Britain, based on the manuscript notebooks of G ...
gives the following description of two portraits of Bassingbourne Gawdy and his wife:
1557 BASSINGBORNE GAWDY and ANNE WOOTTON his wife.
Vertue (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 23070, fo. 75) notes: 'Amongst old paintings at Bow left by Mr. Le Neve Norroy at his house there. Bassingborne Gawdy Esq. on board, small life, ætatis 22. The mark of the painter HE. 1557 ... his wife ætat 20. HE. the mark of the Painter also. These two pictures, as they are not half so big as the life, are drawn with a pretty good spirit and firm manner, the colouring faded.'
Bassingborne Gawdy of Mendham, Norfolk, son of Thomas Gawdy of Redenhall, Norfolk, Serjeant-at-law, and Anne Bassingborne his wife, married in 1558 Anne, daughter of John Wootton of Tudenham and Elizabeth Bardwell his wife, and grand-daughter of John Wootton of Tudenham, whose second wife was Mary Nevill, Baroness Dacre
Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre (1524 – 1578+) was the daughter of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny by his third wife, Lady Mary Stafford, youngest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham.
Life
In 1536 she married Thomas Fiennes ...
(see above). Anne Wootton had been previously married, first to Thomas Wodehouse, and secondly to Henry Repps.
Hope Walker and Kate Emerson suggest that this portrait of Anne Wootton may be that of an ''Unknown Lady, Formerly Lady Anne Penruddocke''. The portrait's former identification as Anne Penruddocke was rejected by Hope Walker in 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawdy, Bassingbourne
1590 deaths
Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Members of the Inner Temple
People from Harling, Norfolk
English MPs 1584–1585
English justices of the peace
High Sheriffs of Norfolk
1535 births