Sir Nicholas Pelham (c. 1513 – 15 September 1560) of
Laughton, Sussex was an English politician.
He was the eldest son of Sir William Pelham of Laughton, Sussex, and his first wife Mary Carew, daughter of Sir Richard Carew and his wife Malyn Oxenbridge, and sister of Sir
Nicholas Carew. After his mother's death, his father remarried Mary Sandys, sister of
William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys
William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (1470 – 4 December 1540), KG, of The Vyne in the parish of Sherborne St John, Hampshire, was an English diplomat and was a favourite of King Henry VIII, whom he served as Lord Chamberlain. In the 1520s he bui ...
; after his death, she remarried John Palmer. Nicholas was ahalf-brother of the Irish judge
Edmund Pelham
Sir Edmund (or Edward) Pelham (c.1533 – 1606) was a member of the distinguished Pelham family of Laughton, East Sussex. He was a judge in Ireland who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and was noteworthy as the first judge ...
and of Sir
William Pelham junior,
Lord Justice of Ireland
The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...
.
Although he married a first cousin of
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
, in the last years of the reign of
Henry VIII he was rarely at court, perhaps embittered by the execution of his uncle Sir Nicholas Carew for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
in 1538. He first came to the public's attention in 1541 when he accused
Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre
{{Infobox noble
, honorific-prefix = The Right Horourable
, name = The Lord Dacre
, title = Baron Dacre
, image = Fiennes,Thomas Baron Dacre.jpg
, caption = ''Thomas Fiennes, Baron Dacre''
, alt =
, Co ...
, of killing Pelham's
gamekeeper
A gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper), or in case of those dealing with deer (deer-)stalker, is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g. areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure there is enough game for s ...
John Busbrig (or Busbridge), during a scuffle when Dacre and his friends were caught
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
on Pelham's estate. Pelham pursued the matter with vigour, and Dacre was arrested and charged with
murder. Dacre, exercising the
privilege of peerage
The privilege of peerage is the body of special privileges belonging to members of the British peerage. It is distinct from parliamentary privilege, which applies only to those peers serving in the House of Lords and the members of the House o ...
, demanded a trial before the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
, and initially pleaded not guilty. He was induced to change his plea to guilty and throw himself on the king's mercy. The king however ordered that he must die, and unusually in the case of a nobleman, did not commute the sentence to
decapitation. Dacre was hanged at
Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...
"like a common murderer".
Pelham sat on the Sussex bench as a
Justice of the Peace from 1544 to his death
and was appointed
High Sheriff of Surrey
The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635).
1066–1228
(High Sheriffs of Surrey only)
1229– ...
and
Sussex for 1549–50.
He was knighted on 17 November 1549.
He had some military skills and defeated a French raiding party in 1545. He was later spoken of by the Privy Council as a "man experienced in war".
During the reign of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
he became close to
Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, and thus gained some political influence, as Arundel was a leading figure in the Government. The reign was dominated by the power struggle between
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...
. In this struggle, Pelham at first seems to have remained relatively neutral, but was later identified firmly with Somerset. In 1551, when Northumberland finally moved to destroy Somerset, Pelham and Arundel were charged with
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
, and imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
. That Pelham expected to die is indicated by the fact that he made his
will,
a curious document which he ruefully admitted might not be valid due to his lack of legal learning. In fact, he was eventually released.
Under
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
, since the Earl of Arundel was in high favour, Pelham no doubt hoped for further advancement, but his career under the devoutly
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 ...
Queen was hampered by the fact that he was a staunch
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
. His refusal to supply troops for the war with France led to a severe reprimand and a short spell in the
Fleet Prison. He was released on promising to supply a troop of horsemen. Since his wife was a close relative of
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
through her mother his career might well have prospered under the new reign, but he died in September 1560.
He was a
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 ...
(MP) for
Arundel in 1547 and
Sussex in 1558.
He had a keen interest in the local
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
trade, especially in the town of
Lewes, where he bought a house called "The White Hart".
He married Anne, the daughter of
John Sackville (died 1557)
John Sackville MP (before 17 March 1484 – 26 September 1557) was a member of parliament for East Grinstead, and a local administrator in Essex, Sussex and Surrey. His first wife was Margaret Boleyn, an aunt of Henry VIII's second Queen, Anne ...
of Withyham and Chiddingly, Sussex and his first wife Margaret Boleyn (aunt of Anne Boleyn), with whom he had five sons and three daughters. His son
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
was created a baronet.
His daughter Anne married Thomas Shurley of
Isfield
Isfield is a small village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex in England, located north-east of Lewes.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publish ...
and was the mother of the politician Sir
John Shurley
Sir John Shurley (died 3 August 1527) was an English noble who held the financial office of Cofferer to the King during the reign of Henry VIII.
He was married twice. Firstly to Parnell (or Petronella) Grandford, daughter of John Graunford, ...
and Sir
George Shurley
Sir George Shurley (1569–1647) was an English-born judge who held the office of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Uniquely among the holders of that office, he ranked as junior in precedence the to Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.Ball, F ...
,
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland
The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) 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 Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelham, Nicholas
1560 deaths
People from Laughton, East Sussex
High Sheriffs of Surrey
High Sheriffs of Sussex
English MPs 1547–1552
English MPs 1558
Year of birth uncertain
Nicholas