Nicholas Merbury (died 1421) was an English administrator, Member of Parliament and first Master of the Ordnance. He was probably the son of Sir Thomas Merbury of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He was the brother of Sir Laurence Merbury, Lord Treasurer of Ireland, and of John Merbury, MP for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

. He begin his career in the service of

Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, titular King of Mann, KG, Lord Marshal (10 November 134120 February 1408) was the son of Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy, and a descendant of Henry III of England. His mother was Mary ...

and was present, in September 1402, at the Battle of Humbleton Hill in Northumberland. After Percy's downfall, he transferred his allegiance to King Henry IV. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Northamptonshire in 1412, serving until 1417. He 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

in 1413 and 1414. He sat on a number of commissions and in 1414 was tasked with recruiting workmen for the Ordnance, after which he was appointed the first

Master of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

for life. He also held a number of other lifetime public appointments such as Usher of the King's chamber (1415),

Chief Butler of England The Chief Butler of England is an office of Grand Sergeanty associated with the feudal Manor of Kenninghall in Norfolk. The office requires service to be provided to the Monarch at the Coronation, in this case the service of ''Pincera Regis'', or C ...

(1418), Chirographer of the common pleas (1420), Keeper of the King's jewels and privy purse (1421) and Bailiff of the royal forest of Cliffe, Northants. He married in 1411, Margaret, the widow of Edward le Latimer, 6th

Baron Latimer The title Baron Latimer or Latymer has been created, by the definitions of modern peerage law, four times in the Peerage of England. Of these, one (of Snape) was restored from abeyance in 1913; one (of Braybrook) is forfeit; the other two (both ...

of Braybrook. They had no children. Nicholas's estates passed to his brother Sir Laurence, and then apparently to their niece Elizabeth, Lady Devereux.

References

* Date of birth unknown 1421 deaths People from Northamptonshire English MPs May 1413 15th-century soldiers English MPs April 1414 {{15thC-England-MP-stub