Oliver St John of Bletsoe, 1st Baron St John of Bletso (c. 1522 – 21 April 1582) 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 ...

peer.

Personal life

He was the son of Sir John St John (Bedfordshire MP) (born 1498) of

Bletsoe Bletsoe is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the A6, and about eight miles north of Bedford. The village has a small park, the former site of Bletsoe Castle and a church. Nearby places are Sharnbrook, Milton Ernest, ...

(Bedfordshire) and

Spelsbury Spelsbury is a village and civil parish about north of Charlbury and about southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village is on a narrow hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwo ...

(Oxfordshire) and his first wife Margaret, the daughter of Sir William Waldegrave. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather Sir Oliver St John of Bletsoe, Spelsbury and

Lydiard Tregoze Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in many other ways. The parish includes the smal ...

, Wiltshire (d. 1437) was the husband of

Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso Margaret Beauchamp (c. 1410 – before 3 June 1482) was the oldest daughter of Sir John Beauchamp, ''de jure'' 3rd Baron Beauchamp of Bletsoe, and his second wife, Edith Stourton. She was the maternal grandmother of Henry VII of England, He ...

, great-great-granddaughter of Roger de Beauchamp, who was summoned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as Baron Beauchamp of Bletso from 1363 to 1379. Since then that title had not been assumed, although St John was considered to be the line of heir. On 13 January 1559 he was raised to the peerage himself as Baron St John of Bletso, in the county of Bedfordshire.

Career

He served in the household of Prince Edward and on his master's accession as

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 ...

in 1547, he entered the royal household. He was elected as

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

(MP) for Bedfordshire in 1547. He served as

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1125 until the end of 1575 (except for 1165–1166), after which separate sheriffs were appointed. See High Sheriff of Bedfordshire an ...

in 1551, and from 1560 to 1569 was

Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. Since 1711, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Bedfordshire. *William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1549–1551 * Oliver St John, 1st Baron St ...

. The offices he held during his career included: * Gentleman waiter extraordinary, household of Prince Edward by 1547 * Gentleman waiter extraordinary, royal household 1547 * Commissioner, relief, Bedfordshire 1550 * Commissioner, musters 1560 * Commissioner, ecclesiastical causes, dioceses of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

1571, 1575 *

1551–1552 * Justice of the Peace, Bedfordshire 1 554–1558, q. 1558/59–1582,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

1562–1582 *

Custos rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

, Bedfordshire 1558/59 * Lord Lieutenant, Bedfordshire 1569

Marriages and issue

Lord St John of Bletso married twice. He married firstly, before 8 February 1542, Agnes, the daughter of Sir John Fisher, and by her had four sons and six daughters: * John St John, 2nd Baron St John of Bletso * Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso * Thomas St John, of Thurley, Bedfordshire (inherited when St. John of Thurley became extinct; Thomas St. John of Thurley was named as brother to Judith St. John Pelham), who married Anne Bourne, widow of Thomas Chicheley and daughter of Sir John Bourne. Thomas St. John was buried 27 Dec 1621. Had at least two children: Oliver St. John and Anne St. John. He also had several step-children. * Francis St John * Martha St John, who married firstly, John Cheney and secondly, James Colbrond * Judith St John, who married Sir John Pelham * Margaret St John, who married Nicholas Luke * Anne St John, who married firstly,

Robert Corbet Captain Robert Corbet RN (died 13 September 1810), often spelled Corbett, was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who was killed in action in highly controversial circumstances. Corbet was ...

. After his death in 1583, she married Sir Robert Lytton. * Margery St John * Agnes St John He married, before 28 August 1572,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, the daughter of Geoffrey Chamber, and widow of Sir

Walter Stonor Sir Walter Stonor (died 1551) was the son of Thomas Stoner of North Stoke, Oxfordshire and Sybilla, the daughter of Sir David Brecknock. He was a Knight of the Body and appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London on 29 September 1546. He had at ...

(died 1551), Reginald Conyers (died 1560) and Edward Griffin (died 1569).

Death

He died on 21 April 1582 and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son

John 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 * Secon ...

Notes

References

* * *

External links

*
Oliver St. John, Baron St. John of Bletso
– family tree at familysearch.org, archived in 2014 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John of Bletso, Oliver St John, 1st Baron 1582 deaths Peers of England created by Elizabeth I High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire English MPs 1547–1552 Lord-Lieutenants of Bedfordshire Oliver 1522 births 16th-century English nobility People from the Borough of Bedford Barons St John of Bletso