Henry Nevill, ''de facto'' 9th (''de jure'' 2nd) Baron Bergavenny (c. 1570 – c. December 1641) was an English

iron founder An iron founder (also iron-founder or ironfounder) in its more general sense is a worker in molten ferrous metal, generally working within an iron foundry. However, the term 'iron founder' is usually reserved for the owner or manager of an iron foun ...

, soldier and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1601 and 1622 when he inherited the

Baron Bergavenny The title Baron Bergavenny (or Abergavenny) was created several times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain, all but the first being baronies created by error. Abergavenny is a market town in South East Wales with ...

peerage.

Life

Nevill was the son of

Edward Nevill, 8th Baron Bergavenny Edward Nevill, ''de facto'' 8th (''de jure'' 1st) Baron Bergavenny (c. 1550 – 1 December 1622) was an English peer. The son of Edward Nevill, 7th Baron Bergavenny, he succeeded to the Barony upon the death of his father. His right to the titl ...

and his wife Rachel Lennard, daughter of John Lennard. He was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

in 1586 and was awarded BA in 1589. He was incorporated at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and awarded MA in 1594.

Recusant

He then travelled abroad and was at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in July 1594 where he was approached by English Catholics, presumably with the intention of involving him in one of the numerous conspiracies against

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". Eli ...

which were rife in that decade. Nevill conformed outwardly to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, but was generally believed to be a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

at heart. His first wife, Lady Mary Sackville, was a confirmed Catholic who taught her children to follow that faith. His beliefs are also evidenced by his second marriage to Catherine Vaux, who belonged to a notable

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

family. Her mother, Elizabeth Vaux (née Roper) sheltered

Catholic priests The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

at the family home at Harrowden Hall, and her brother Lord Vaux fled the country after being suspected of complicity in the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...

; on his return to England in 1611 he was imprisoned for two years. Later generations of the Nevill family openly professed the Catholic faith, and followed Henry's example in marrying into well-known recusant families like the Giffords and Chamberlains.

Military and political career

In 1596 he served at the

Capture of Cadiz Capture may refer to: * Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body *Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation *"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend * Capture (band), ...

under

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following ...

and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

. In June 1597 he was licensed to travel abroad for two years with his brother-in-law Thomas Sackville, son of Lord Buckhurst, later

Earl of Dorset Earl of Dorset is a title that has been created at least four times in the Peerage of England. Some of its holders have at various times also held the rank of marquess and, from 1720, duke. A possible first creation is not well documented. Abou ...

. Buckhurst and Nevill owned several

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

foundries between them, and by December 1596 they had a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

which gave them a monopoly in the production of

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

. History of Parliament Online - Neville, Henry
/ref> In 1601 Nevill was elected

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

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He took no part in Essex's Rebellion, though he was apparently invited to do so. During this parliament Nevill's patent was mentioned during an attack on

monopolies A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

. Nevill is mentioned sitting on a committee considering the Penal Laws on 2 November, somewhat ironically in view of his own well-known Catholic leanings. In 1604, he was elected MP for

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

. In 1621 he was elected MP for Wilton and sat until 1622 when he succeeded to the Barony upon the death of his father. Nevill died in 1641.

Family

Nevill married firstly Lady Mary Sackville (d. February 1612),Norman McClure, ''Letters of John Chamberlain'', vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 432. daughter of

Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (153619 April 1608) was an English statesman, poet, and dramatist. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer. Biography Early life ...

and Cicely Baker, with whom he had the following children: *Sir Thomas Nevill (b. bef. 1610–1628); married Frances Mordaunt, daughter of the 4th

Baron Mordaunt The title Baron Mordaunt was created in 1529 for Sir John Mordaunt. The fifth baron was created Earl of Peterborough in 1628 and the title then passed to his son, the second earl, in 1644. On his death in 1697, the earldom was inherited by his ...

, and had two sons who died young and a daughter Margaret; *Cecily Nevill (c. 1600 – c. 1654), who in 1617 married

Fitzwilliam Coningsby Fitzwilliam Coningsby (died August 1666) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1621 and in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Biography Coningsby was born at Hampton Court, Herefordshire, the ...

; they were the grandparents of

Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC (2 November 1656 – 1 May 1729) of Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat ...

; * Mary (Anne in religion) Nevill (1605–1689), a Benedictine nun at an English convent in Ghent and then abbess at the English Benedictines of

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the " new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dépa ...

from 1667 to 1689 *Elizabeth Nevill (b. bef. 1641) He then married Catherine Vaux, daughter of George Vaux and Elizabeth Roper, and sister of

Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden Edward Vaux, 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden (13 September 1588 – 8 September 1661) was an English peer. He was the son of George Vaux (1564–1594) and his wife Elizabeth Vaux (daughter of John Roper, 1st Baron Teynham, born about 1564), and the gra ...

, with whom he had the following children: * John Nevill, 10th Baron Bergavenny (c. 1614–1662) * George Nevill, 11th Baron Bergavenny (c. 1615–1666) *Frances Nevill (b. bef. 1641) thepeerage.com page (number and name details differ)
/ref> *Catherine Nevill (died after 1654) who married firstly Sir Robert Howard and secondly John Berry *Elizabeth Nevill (c. 1626–1662) who married in 1651 Thomas Stoner (1626–1683)—a descendant of

William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, (16 October 1396 – 2 May 1450), nicknamed Jackanapes, was an English magnate, statesman, and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He became a favourite of the weak king Henry VI of England ...

and Alice Chaucer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergavenny, Henry Nevill, 9th Baron 1580s births 1641 deaths 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility

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, ...

English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1621–1622 Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Barons Bergavenny (Peerage of England)