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Sir Giles Strangways (1486 – 11 December 1546), of
Melbury House
Melbury House is an English country house in the parish of Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset, This Grade I listed mansion is the home of the Honorable Mrs Charlotte Townshend, a major landowner in east Dorset, through her mother, Theresa ...
,
Melbury Sampford, and of
Abbotsbury
Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropic ...
, both in Dorset, was an English politician.
Origins
He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Strangways (c.1465–1504) of Melbury Sampford, Dorset by his first wife Dorothy Arundell, a daughter of Sir John Arundell (born 1418) of
Lanherne in Cornwall,
Sheriff of Cornwall
Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list:
The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, othe ...
in 1443, Vice-Admiral of Cornwall, by his second wife Catherine Chiddocke, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Chiddocke of Dorset and widow of William Stafford of Frome. Sir Henry Strangways survived his first wife and remarried to the widow of William Browning (or Brouning), lord of the manor of Melbury Sampford, which manor thereby became a possession and the principal seat of his descendants from his first marriage.
[Miller]
Early origins
Sir Giles Strangway's grandfather was the first to settle in Dorset, having left
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
on the suggestion of
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, (145520 September 1501) was an English nobleman, courtier and the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Her secon ...
.
His ancestors were seated at
Harlsey Castle in Yorkshire, where continued the senior line until the 16th century, a prominent member of which was
James Strangeways (1415–1480),
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
and thrice
Sheriff of Yorkshire
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...
.
Career
He succeeded his father in 1504 and was knighted in 1514. He was made an
Esquire of the body by 1509. He also was appointed a
Justice of the Peace for Dorset in 1509 for life, for Somerset from 1514 to 1521 and for the western circuit in 1540. He was
Sheriff of Somerset
The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...
and
Sheriff of Dorset for 1512–13, 1517–18, 1524–25, 1533–34 and 1541–42 and a
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 o ...
for
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
in 1529 and 1539.
He took part in the French campaign of 1514 and was part of the contingent of English knights with Henry VIII at the
Field of Cloth of Gold
The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English P ...
in 1520 and at the reception of Charles V at Canterbury in May 1522. He was also on campaign in France in 1523 and appointed
Vice-Admiral of Dorset
The Vice-Admiral of Dorset was responsible for the defence of the County of Dorset, England.
As a Vice-Admiral, the post holder was the chief of naval administration for his district. His responsibilities included pressing men for naval service, ...
from c. 1526 to 1536.
[
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1543 he acquired ]Abbotsbury Abbey
Abbotsbury Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter, was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery wi ...
in Dorset, together with the manors of Abbotsbury and East Elworth, for which he paid nearly £2,000.
Marriage and issue
He married Joan Mordaunt, a daughter of Sir John Mordaunt of Turvey, Bedfordshire, MP, by whom he had a son and two daughters, including:
*Sir Henry Strangways (died 1544), who predeceased his father, having died at the Siege of Boulogne. He married Margaret Manners, a daughter of George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
(c. 1470–1513) of Hamlake Castle in Yorkshire, and a sister of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG (c. 1497{{snd20 September 1543), of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (adjacent to the small county of Rutland), was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry VIII in 1525.
Ori ...
(c. 1492–1543). He was the father of Sir Giles Strangways
Giles Strangways (3 June 1615 – 20 July 1675) of Melbury House in Somerset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side during the Civil War
Origins
He was the ...
(c. 1528–1562), MP.
Death and burial
He died in 1546 and was buried at Melbury Sampford. He was succeeded by his grandson Sir Giles Strangways
Giles Strangways (3 June 1615 – 20 July 1675) of Melbury House in Somerset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side during the Civil War
Origins
He was the ...
(c. 1528–1562). Surviving in Melbury Sampford Church under the south arch is his monument, a chest tomb
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...
with canopy beneath which lies a recumbent effigy of a fully armed knight with his hands together in prayer. It was made about a century before to commemorate a member of the Brouning family but has been altered to form the monument of Sir Giles Strangways. The knight's helm displays the grasshopper crest of Brouning. Around the side of the top edge of the chest tomb is a brass fillet (replacing the former one) inscribed in Latin as follows:
:''Hic jacent Egidius Strangewaies miles filius et heres Henrici Strangewaies armigeri et Dorothae uxoris suae filiae Johannis Arundel militis. Nec non Johanna uxor predict(i) Egid(ii) et filia Johannis Mordant militis. Egidius obiit die 11 Decembris 1547 cuius a(n)i(ma)e p(ro)pici(e)tur D(omin)o Amen''.
Which may be translated as: (''"Here lie Giles Strangeways, Knight, the son and heir of Henry Strangeways, Esquire, and of Dorothy his wife, the daughter of John Arundel, Knight; and also Johanna, the wife of the foresaid Giles, and daughter of John Mordaunt, Knight. Giles died on the 11th of December 1547. Of the soul of whom may it be looked upon with favour by God Amen"''). An almost identical monument survives in the same church, under the north arch, of William Brouning/Browning, former lord of the manor, and Katherine Dru and Alice Burton his wives, erected by Alice in 1467.['Melbury Sampford', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strangways, Giles
1486 births
1546 deaths
Politicians from Dorset
English knights
High Sheriffs of Somerset
High Sheriffs of Dorset
English MPs 1529–1536
English MPs 1539–1540