Lewis Prowde (c.1560-1617) was an English barrister,
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
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. ...
as MP for
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
in the
Addled Parliament
The Parliament of 1614 was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James VI and I, which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614. Lasting only two months and two days, it saw no bills pass and was not even regarded as a Parliament by its c ...
of 1614.
[Thrush, Andrew and Ferris, John P. editors ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629'' Cambridge University Press 2010]
He was born in
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
,
[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 p.314] eldest son of George Prowde (died 1591) and Eleanor Lewis. Though he came from an established family of
drapers
Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher.
History
Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...
and cloth merchants, he decided on a career in the law. After attending
Shrewsbury Grammar School, he matriculated from
St. John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...
in 1576. He entered
Furnivall's Inn
Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building (the former Prudential Assurance Company building) in Holborn, London, England.
History
Furnival's Inn was founded about 1383 when Wil ...
, and then
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1578.
[ He was ]called to the Bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1586. He became a figure of considerable importance in Lincoln's Inn, where he was successively made Bencher in 1602 (an unusually early appointment as he had only 16 years practice at the Bar), Reader, Keeper of the Black Book, and finally Treasurer in 1613-14.[ He built up a lucrative legal practice and had the name of being a fine lawyer. He became standing counsel to the ]Dean of Westminster
The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbur ...
in about 1587, and steward of the lands of Westminster Abbey. He moved permanently to London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
some years after his father's death, though his old home remained in the family. He also leased a manor at Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, below the northwestern edge of Salisbury Plain, about south of Trowbridge and a similar distance north of Warminster. Originally a market town, Westbury was kn ...
. [
In 1604, he was nominated as a justice of the ]Court of King's Bench (Ireland)
The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Benc ...
, but his 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 p ...
of appointment never took effect.[Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' London Butterworths 1839 p.104] Most likely he refused to take up the position, about which he had not been consulted in advance, due to his increasing health problems (he was seriously ill in 1605, and unable to act as Reader of his Inn).[ The Crown with some reluctance appointed the incompetent ]Geoffrey Osbaldeston
Geoffrey Osbaldeston (1558-c.1635) was an English-born politician and judge who had a long but rather undistinguished career in Ireland.
He was the third son of Edward Osbaldeston of Osbaldeston Hall, a member of an old and prominent Lancashir ...
instead in 1605.[
Despite his increasing ill health, Prowde in 1610 became a junior judge of the ]North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
circuit, an appointment which, according to the customs of the time, allowed him to continue in private practice. He entered Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 1614, but the single session of the notorious Addled Parliament, which was dissolved after only two months, having passed no legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
, was too short for him to make any impression.[
His increasing eminence as a lawyer meant that a seat on the High Court would almost certainly have come his way but for his premature death. He died early in 1617 and was buried in ]Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
He married in 1590 Ursula Trappes, daughter of Francis Trappes, goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
of London and Anne Barnard or Byrnand of Knaresborough
Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate.
History
Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...
, and had three children, including Thomas. The marriage was a most advantageous one for Prowde, since his mother-in-law was not only a rich woman in her own right, but had married as her third husband Sir John Egerton of Oundle, a member of the powerful Egerton family
The Egerton family (pronunciation: "''edge-er-ton''") is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Egerton family were made Dukes, Earls, knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Egerton family include t ...
, who by his death in 1614 had become one of the leading politicians in Cheshire and Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
.[Cokayne, G.E ''Complete Baronetage''
Volume 1 (1900) p.108] He fostered Prowde's career (he was probably responsible for Prowde being appointed a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn at an unusually early date)), and Prowde in return had Egerton made an honorary member of Lincoln's Inn in 1602. Ursula survived until 1640. She is buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...
, adjacent to the Abbey.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prowde, Lewis
People from Shrewsbury
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Justices of the Irish King's Bench
Members of Lincoln's Inn
English MPs 1614
17th-century Welsh judges
1617 deaths