Sir Henry Knollys of

Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

, Warwickshire (ca. 1542 – 21 December 1582G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 Volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 Volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), Volume X, p. 284, gives 1583 as the year of his death.) was an English

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and Member of Parliament.

Biography

He was born the eldest son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and

Catherine Carey Catherine Carey, after her marriage Catherine Knollys and later known as both Lady Knollys and Dame Catherine Knollys, (c. 1522 – 15 January 1569), was chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, who was her first cousin. Biograph ...

, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He was reputedly educated at Magdelen College, Oxford. He entered Parliament in 1562 as MP for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in Berkshire and was re-elected for Reading in 1571. He served against the Northern rebels in 1569 and by 1570 had been appointed Esquire of the Body to

Queen 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 ...

. In 1572, together with his father, he became MP for

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. Around 1578, he joined

Sir Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English people, English adventurer, explorer, Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Elizabeth I of England, Queen ...

in a venture designed to set up a new colony on the east coast of North America although Henry showed more interest in the more profitable business of privateering in the Spanish Caribbean. Gilbert gathered eleven heavily armed ships and a crew of 600, many of them convicted pirates especially pardoned for the voyage. Knollys soon refused to acknowledge Sir Humphrey's authority and, together with the pirate John Callis, took three ships (later joined by more) to the Spanish Coast on a privateering expedition. The planned voyage across the Atlantic never came to pass and Gilbert complained to

Sir Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

of Knolly's "unkind and ill dealing". In 1582, an expedition to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in support of Don Antonio, Prior of Crato, the Royal claimant to the throne, foundered when Henry was ordered to return home. He later joined his distant cousin

John Norreys John Norreys may refer to: *Sir John Norris (soldier) or Norreys (c. 1547–1597), the son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys, a lifelong friend of Queen Elizabeth *Sir John Norreys (Keeper of the Wardrobe) for Henry VI of England (c. 1400–1466) ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to fight for Dutch independence but soon succumbed to wounds or disease.

Personal life

He had married, on 16 July 1565, Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir

Ambrose Cave Sir Ambrose Cave (died 2 April 1568) was an English politician. Life Ambrose Cave was the son of Richard Cave (see Cave-Browne-Cave baronets) and Margaret Saxby of Stanford, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Cambridge University. He was knigh ...

, the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

, and Margaret Willington. On the death of Sir Ambrose in 1568 he and his wife had inherited estates at

Kingsbury, Warwickshire Kingsbury is a large village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 7,652. The village is situated between Bir ...

where they lived when in the Midlands. They had two daughters: Elizabeth, who married Sir Henry Willoughby of

Risley, Derbyshire Risley is a small village and parish in Erewash in the English county of Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 711. It is just over four miles south of Ilkeston. Sandiacre is adjacent to the east. It is almost ...

and Lettice, who married

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1572 – 29 August 1629) was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. His grandfather was William Paget, 1st ...

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knollys, Henry English privateers

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

1540s births 1582 deaths People of the Elizabethan era Carey family Esquires of the Body Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Reading People from Rotherfield Greys People from Reading, Berkshire People from the Borough of North Warwickshire English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 Year of birth uncertain