Francis Carew (1530?–1611), of

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

was an English politician.

Family

Carew was the son of Nicholas Carew, friend of

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, and his wife,

Elizabeth Bryan Elizabeth Blomfield Bryan AM is an Australian executive director. She was the first woman to run a large financial institution in Australia. Biography Bryan grew up on her family's cattle and sheep properties near Coonabarabran in northern New ...

, who has been suggested as a possible mistress of Henry VIII's. Through his mother, he was a third cousin of both

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, through their mothers. His father was executed for his supposed part in the

Exeter Conspiracy The Exeter Conspiracy in 1538 was a supposed attempt to overthrow Henry VIII, who had taken control of the Church of England away from the Pope, and replace him with Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, who was a first cousin of the King. Co ...

in March 1539 and his lands were forfeited to the Crown. However his mother was a sister of Sir

Francis Bryan Sir Francis Bryan (about 1490 – 2 February 1550) was an English courtier and diplomat during the reign of Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII. He was Chief Gentleman of the Privy chamber and Lord Justices (Ireland), Lord Justice of Ireland. Unli ...

, an intimate friend of the King, and through his goodwill, the family were able to live in reasonable comfort. By 1561 Carew had succeeded in recovering most of his father's forfeited estates, though he was forced to buy back Beddington from

Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche KG (4 December 1506 – 28 June 1558) was an English courtier during the reign of Edward VI. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 1550 and 1551 b ...

. Little is known of Carew's early life, but he is thought to have been attached to the household of Queen

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

. He rebuilt Beddington Hall, where he frequently entertained Elizabeth I and later

James I of England 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 King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

. He built an

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very large ...

there, and a garden where he cultivated exotic plants. Carew manor

He never married and on his death, most of his estates passed to his nephew Nicholas Throckmorton, son of his sister Anne, who married the leading diplomat Sir

Nicholas Throckmorton Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (or Throgmorton) (c. 1515/151612 February 1571) was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of Englan ...

, on condition that he take the name Carew. He also left property to another nephew, Sir Francis Darcy, younger son of his sister Mary and Sir Arthur Darcy "for the comfort I have had in his company and conversation".

Career

In general, he took little interest in politics, and avoided taking any public office; he prided himself on not asking for favours from the Crown, either for himself or others. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

for

Castle Rising Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. The River Babingley skirts the north of the village separating C ...

in 1563. He took no part in the Commons debates, and did not stand for election again.

References

1530 births 1611 deaths English MPs 1563–1567 People from Surrey

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

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