Sir Walter Long (1560 or 1565? – October 1610) 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 ...
knight and landowner, born in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, the son of
Sir Robert Long and his wife Barbara Carne.
Public service
He was elected
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
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
in 1593.
In 1601 Long was appointed
High Sheriff of Wiltshire
This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle.
On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...
and in 1602
Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire under
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Baron Beauchamp, KG (22 May 1539 – 6 April 1621), of Wulfhall and Totnam Lodge in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, of Netley Abbey, Hampshire, and of Hertford House, Cannon R ...
.
The two Sir Walters
Long was a friend of
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
, (Raleigh's brother
Carew had married Long's mother-in-law, widow of the first
Sir John Thynne
Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506 – 1552), and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House, and his descendants became Marquesses of Bath.
Early life
...
of
Longleat
Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...
), and according to historian
John Aubrey
John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the ''Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist, ...
, Long was the first in the country to introduce the fashion of smoking tobacco, his friend Raleigh being the first to bring it to England. Long's home of
South Wraxall Manor
South Wraxall Manor is a Grade I listed country house which dates from the early 15th century, at South Wraxall in the English county of Wiltshire, about north of Bradford on Avon. According to popular legend, the house was the first place t ...
is one of the houses in England where legend says tobacco was first smoked by the two Sir Walters, although the same legend has been told of other locations. Aubrey also alludes to Sir Walter Long's ostentatious lifestyle, saying he kept a trumpeter, and on at least one occasion, he rode to
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
with thirty servants and retainers.
Feuding neighbours
Long and his brother Henry were involved in a dispute with their neighbours, the Danvers, and Long supported the claims of Danvers' tenants to rights of common, which in 1596 resulted in the
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...
deciding that Long was to blame for hedge-breaking on the Danvers' enclosures, and he was fined £200 for 'a great riot' over the hedge-destroying incident. Twenty eight people had been involved, according to the judge, and many Wiltshire
Yeomen
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...
were fined. The dispute between the Longs and the Danvers' became a violent and deadly feud, eventually resulting in the murder of Henry Long.
Family
Sir Walter Long married firstly, Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Packington (died 2 June 1571) of
Westwood,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
and
Dorothy Kitson. She was on friendly terms with
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, and gifts to the Queen from Lady Long, which included an item of 18 ounces of gilt plate, were recorded in the
Jewel House
The Jewel House is a vault housing the British Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, Crown Jewels in the Waterloo Block (formerly a barracks) at the Tower of London. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 and refurbished in 2012. Regalia ...
records in 1588. There were two children of this marriage.
Long married secondly, Catherine, daughter of Sir John Thynne of Longleat. Long was the last of the family to own both manors of South Wraxall and
Draycot together, and through the contrivances of his second wife Catherine, Sir Walter disinherited his son John from his first marriage, in favour of Walter, the eldest son from the second, but a compromise later led John to receive the estate at South Wraxall, and his half-brother received Draycot.
There were at least thirteen children from his second marriage, including:
*
Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet (c. 1600 – 13 July 1673) of Westminster was an English courtier and administrator who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1626 and 1673.
Background
Long was the son of Sir Walter Long of South Wrax ...
*Sir
Walter Long (c. 1594 – 1637) (father of
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet (c. 1617 – 22 January 1692) was an English politician and Royalist soldier.
Born at South Wraxall, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, the son of Sir Walter Long and Anne Ley (daughter of James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough ...
)
Another legend related by Aubrey, concerns a promise made by Catherine to her husband on his death-bed, that she would not remarry, but she soon afterwards married Sir Edward Fox, which as the story goes, caused the portrait of Sir Walter to fall from the wall the moment the bride and her new husband entered the room.
Sir Walter died in October 1610 and was buried at Draycot on 30 October 1610.
See also
* Sir
Robert Long (c. 1517 – c. 1581) for more on the murder of Henry Long
*
Walter Long (of South Wraxall) for more on the descent of the manor of South Wraxall
*
:Long family of Wiltshire
Further reading
Inheriting the Earth: The Long Family's 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire; Cheryl Nicol*
Notes
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Walter (1565-1610)
1560s births
1610 deaths
People from Wiltshire
English knights
English MPs 1593
High Sheriffs of Wiltshire
Walter Long (1565-1610)
Deputy Lieutenants of Wiltshire
17th-century English people