Nicholas Carew (died 1390), of

Beddington Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lawyer, landowner, courtier, administrator and politician who served as Keeper of the Privy Seal during the reign of King

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

Origins

Traditional sources make him a son of Nicholas Carew, who married twice and died in 1308, but this is improbable and he was more likely a grandson.
London Borough of Sutton website.

Career

Not being heir to any significant property, he probably trained as a lawyer, working for private clients and for the crown. By 1342 he had been granted the manor of

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

in Surrey for life and to this he added holdings in

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 ...

. Three major clients were the

Chief Justice of the King's Bench Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

, Sir Richard III Willoughby, his daughter and heiress Lucy, and her husband Sir Thomas Huscarle, an MP who was lord of the manor of Purley Magna in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

and died by 1352. By 1356 Carew had married the widow, gaining control of her lands in Surrey and Berkshire, and made her manor of Beddington, which her father had bought in 1345, the family home. In 1360 he was chosen to sit for

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 ...

and he became a trusted member of the Royal Household. In 1371 he was appointed Keeper of the Privy Seal, the first layman to hold the post, and remained in office until the king's death in 1377. He was one of the group of courtiers around

, including William, Lord Latimer, Lord John Neville, Sir Alan Buxhull, Richard Lyons, and the king's mistress

Alice Perrers Alice Perrers, also known as Alice de Windsor (circa 1348 –1400) was an English and British royal mistress, English royal mistress, lover of Edward III of England, Edward III, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, King of England. As a result o ...

, who increasingly controlled access to and decisions emerging from the king as his health failed. Influential in the royal campaign in 1376 against

William Wykeham William of Wykeham (; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded New College, Oxford, and New College School in 1379, and founded Winchester College in 1382. He was also the clerk of wor ...

, bishop of Winchester, he was named as an executor and trustee of the king's will. After the king's death, he sat again for Surrey in the Parliament of October 1377. Alice Perrers asked him to help refute the allegations against her but when she went on trial in December the court heard his view that it was she who induced the senile king to pardon Richard Lyons from his conviction for financial malpractice. Thereafter he seems to have withdrawn from public life, dying on 17 August 1390. In his will, made at Beddington on 13 October 1387 and proved at Croydon on 26 September 1390, he asked to be buried in the church of St Mary at Beddington next to his brother John, a priest. Despite being a county member in Parliament and a senior member of government, he does not appear to have been knighted.

Family

Sometime after 1352 he married Lucy, widow of Sir Thomas Huscarle and daughter and heiress of Sir Richard III Willoughby and his first wife Isabel Mortain. Children mentioned in his will were: *

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

, his heir. *Margaret, who married Sir Robert Turberville (died 1424), of

Bere Regis Bere Regis () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745. The village has one shop, a family-owned cheese barn, a post office, and two pubs ...

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 (unitary authority), Dors ...

. *Lucy, who became a nun at

Rusper Rusper is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and Cr ...

in Sussex.A possible daughter was Elizabeth (died 1410), recorded as marrying first Roger Lewknor (died 1401), of

Horsted Keynes Horsted Keynes is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The village is about north east of Haywards Heath, in the Weald. The civil parish is largely rural, covering . At the 2011 census, it had a popula ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, and secondly Roger Knyvett.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carew, Nicholas Year of birth missing English landowners 1390 deaths Lords Privy Seal People from the London Borough of Sutton English MPs 1360

English MPs October 1377