Sir Robert Knollys KB (1547– 1619 or 1626http://thepeerage.com/p34149.htm#i341489 gives 1625 as the year of his death.) 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 ...

courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1572 and 1611.

Life

Knollys was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, and

Catherine Carey Catherine Carey, after her marriage Catherine Knollys and later known as both Lady Knollys and Dame Catherine Knollys, (c. 1522 – 15 January 1569), was chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, who was her first cousin. Biograph ...

, Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He quickly entered the Queen's service. He grew up in Rotherfield Greys in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

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 ...

. In 1572, 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 of ...

for

. He was Keeper of

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had be ...

and steward of Isleworth in 1577 and usher of Tower mint from 1577 to 1582. From about 1583, he was a J.P. for Breconshire. He was elected MP for Reading again in 1584 and 1586. In 1587 he became a gentleman of the privy chamber. History of Parliament Online – Robert Knollys
/ref> In 1589 Knollys was elected MP for Reading and Breconshire and chose to sit for Breconshire. He became Deputy Lieutenant in 1590 and Custos Rotulorum in about 1592. In 1593 he was re-elected MP for Breconshire. He was elected MP for Breconshire again in 1597 and 1601. By 1603, he was esquire of the body and in July 1603 was made a Knight of the Bath. He was re-elected MP for Breconshire in 1604. He enjoyed sports and played bowls with the Earl of Shrewsbury. He also took part in tilting competitions and was seriously injured in November 1602. Knollys died in January 1619, after a fall at the house of his brother William at Caversham. Knollys married Catherine Vaughan, daughter of Rowland Vaughan of Porthamel in

Brecknockshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

and had two daughters: Frances (sometimes erroneously called Catherine) who married Sir Charles Vaughan and Lettice who married

Framlingham Gawdy Framlingham Gawdy (8 August 1589 – 1654) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1614 to 1648. He was a passive Parliamentarian during the English Civil War. Gawdy was the son of Sir Bassingbourne Gawdy of West Har ...

, the High Sheriff of Norfolk. He was brother of

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Henry Knollys who were all MPs.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knollys, Robert 1547 births 1619 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales People from Reading, Berkshire People from Rotherfield Greys People from Brecknockshire Robert 1619 English MPs 1572–1583 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Reading Knights of the Bath