Lionel Duckett (1511August 1587) was one of the merchant adventurers of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He was four times

Master of the Mercers' Company The Master Mercers have been, by reign: Richard II of England :1390 John Lovey :1391 John Organ :1392 John Organ :1393 John Organ :1394 William Parker :1395 Sir Richard Whittington (1st term) :1396 John Shadworth :1397 John Woodcocke :1398 Willia ...

, and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

in 1572. He was born in 1511 to William Duckett of

Flintham Flintham is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district in Nottinghamshire, 7 miles (11 km) from Newark-on-Trent and opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. It had a population of 597 at the 2011 Census and estimated at 586 in 2019. The vil ...

, Nottinghamshire and his wife Jane (née Redman), of Harwood Castle, Yorkshire. He served an apprenticeship with John Colet, of the

Mercers' Company The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

of the City of London, and was granted the freedom of the Company in 1537. He became enormously wealthy through his trading. He subscribed to

Martin Frobisher Sir Martin Frobisher (; c. 1535 – 22 November 1594) was an English seaman and privateer who made three voyages to the New World looking for the North-west Passage. He probably sighted Resolution Island near Labrador in north-eastern Canada ...

's three voyages in search of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, and to

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

' voyage of 1562 which led to the formation of the Africa Company, paving the way for the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...

in later centuries. In 1553, he acquired monastic and

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

lands in Surrey, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. In 1556, he acquired lands in Somerset and Devon. In 1572, he bought the manor of

Calne Calne () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs h ...

, Wiltshire. He later acquired property in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Kent. In 1565 he served as a

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

. The next year he became Master of the Mercers' Company, a position he also held in 1571, 1577, and 1583. In 1572–1573 he was Lord Mayor of London. He died in August 1587 and his will was proved on 20 February 1588.

Family

He married twice. # Mary Leighton, by whom he had a short-lived son, George Duckett # Jane Baskerville, (née Pakington, the widow of Humphrey Baskerville), on 29 June 1564 at St Peter, Westcheap, by whom he had a son Thomas Duckett (1566–1608). His nephew

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

(c.1548–1591, son of his brother John) succeeded him as lord of the manor of Calne.

References

1511 births 1587 deaths Sheriffs of the City of London 16th-century lord mayors of London Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Date of birth unknown 16th-century English businesspeople Businesspeople from London {{Lord-Mayor-of-London-stub