Sir William Drury (8 March 1550 – 1589) was an English landowner and member of parliament. He was the father of Sir Robert Drury, patron of the poet
John Donne
John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...
.
Family
William Drury, born 8 March 1550, was the eldest son of Robert Drury (d. 7 December 1557), esquire, and Audrey Rich, the daughter of
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He was ...
,
Lord Chancellor of England
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
. He had three brothers and eight sisters:
*Henry Drury, who died without issue.
*Thomas Drury (born 8 May 1551).
[.]
*Robert Drury, who died an infant.
*Anne Drury, who married John Thornton of
Soham
Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census.
History Archaeology
The region between Dev ...
, Cambridgeshire.
*Mary Drury (born 14 February 1546),
who married Robert Russell of
West Rudham
West Rudham is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village straddles the A148 King's Lynn to Cromer road.
It covers an area of and had a population of 213 in 97 households at the 2001 census, the population including Houghto ...
, Norfolk.
*Elizabeth Drury (born 8 February 1547),
who married firstly, Thomas Grey of
Merton, Norfolk
Merton is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
It covers an area of and had a population of 113 in 50 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 133 in 56 households at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local g ...
, and secondly, Nicholas Mynne of
Walsingham
Walsingham () is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval Christian monasticism, monastic houses.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Exp ...
, Norfolk.
*Susan Drury (born 4 April 1549),
who married Robert Baspole.
*Winifred Drury (born 27 August 1552),
who married Edmund Markhant or Marchant or Markham of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, Essex.
*Bridget Drury, who married Richard Zouche of
Pitton, Wiltshire.
*Dorothy Drury, who married, on 26 August 1577,
Edward Barnes of
Soham
Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census.
History Archaeology
The region between Dev ...
, Cambridgeshire.
*Audrey or Etheldred Drury, who married 28 December 1587, George Parker.
Career
Drury was educated at Groton school and
Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
. He probably entered
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1569. He succeeded his father, Robert, in 1557 and his grandfather, Sir William Drury, in 1558, inheriting considerable land in Suffolk, including Hawstead Place, where in 1578 he entertained
Queen 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 ...
. He was knighted around the same time.
In 1581 he was elected MP for Castle Rising, Norfolk, in a by-election caused by the illness of
Edward Flowerdew
Edward Flowerdew (died 1586), was an English judge and MP.
Life
Flowerdew, fourth son of John Flowerdew of Hethersett, Norfolk, a large landed proprietor, was educated at Cambridge, but took no degree. He became a member of the Inner Temple 1 ...
. His return was challenged at the beginning of the session but confirmed by Parliament. In 1584 he was elected knight of the shire (MP) for
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, sitting until 1586.
Drury was a
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
from about 1577, and was appointed
High Sheriff of Suffolk
This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk.
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...
for 1582. He became an
Exchequer
In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...
receiver for Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and London in 1587, but had to flee to the continent when owing the Exchequer £5000. By 1588, through the influence of
Lord Willoughby
Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. A ...
, then in command of English forces in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, Drury had been appointed Governor of
Bergen-op-Zoom
Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands.
Etymology
The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil p ...
in the Netherlands, which was threatened by the Spanish. After being replaced as Governor by
Thomas Morgan, a more experienced soldier, he was sent as colonel over 1000 men under Lord Willoughby to the assistance of
Henry IV of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...
. En route he quarreled with Sir John Borough over precedency, and a duel ensued in which Drury sustained a serious injury to his arm, losing first his hand to
gangrene
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
and then his arm by amputation. He died soon afterwards.
[ Drury, Sir William (1550–90), of Hawstead, Suffolk](_blank)
Retrieved 10 March 2013.
At his death Drury still owed the crown £3000. Much of his land was sold to pay the debt, all but £600 of which was eventually paid.
He was buried at Hawstead, where a marble bust over his tomb depicts him in full armour. Drury had made his last will on 1 July 1587 prior to leaving England. It was proved on 4 June 1595.
Marriage and issue
Drury married
Elizabeth Stafford
Elizabeth Stafford, also known as Dame Elizabeth Drury and – in the years prior to her death in 1599 – Dame (Lady) Elizabeth Scott, was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. She and her first husband, Sir William Drury, entertained ...
, the daughter of
Sir William Stafford of
Chebsey
Chebsey is a small village in Staffordshire 2.5 miles southeast of Eccleshall on a confluence of Eccleshall water and the River Sow some 5 miles northwest of Stafford. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 566. It comprise ...
, Staffordshire, and
Dorothy Stafford
Dorothy Stafford, Lady Stafford (1 October 1526 – 22 September 1604) was an English noblewoman, and an influential person at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England, to whom she served as Mistress of the Robes. Dorothy Stafford was the second ...
, by whom he had two sons and four daughters:
*Sir Robert Drury (1575–1615), who married, on 30 January 1592,
Anne Bacon
Anne, Lady Bacon (née Cooke; 1527 or 1528 – 27 August 1610) was an English lady and scholar. She made a lasting contribution to English religious literature with her translation from Latin of John Jewel's ''Apologie of the Anglican Church'' ...
(d. 5 June 1624), the daughter of
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet (ca. 1540 – 22 November 1624), of Redgrave, Suffolk, English Member of Parliament. In 1611 he became the first man to be made a baronet. Bacon would serve on many commissions. The Privy Council of the United K ...
, by whom he had two daughters, Dorothy and Elizabeth, but died without living issue.
*Charles Drury, slain at
Nieuwpoort in 1600.
*Frances Drury (13 June 1576 – c. 1637), who married firstly Sir Nicholas Clifford of
Bobbing, Kent
Bobbing is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England, about a mile north-west of Sittingbourne, and forming part of its urban area. The hamlet of Howt Green and village of Keycol are included within the parish. According ...
, and secondly,
Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Glentworth
Sir William Wray, 1st Baronet, of Glentworth, Lincolnshire (c. 1555 – 13 August 1617) was an English Member of Parliament.
He represented the constituency of Grimsby from 1584 to 1585, Lincolnshire in 1601 and Grimsby again from 1604 to Novemb ...
(1555–1617).
*Elizabeth Drury (born 4 January 1578) who married
William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter
William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter, (1566 – 6 July 1640), known as the third Lord Burghley from 1605 to 1623, was an English nobleman, politician, and peer.
Life
Exeter was the son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville, daug ...
1566–1640, by whom she had issue.
*Diana Drury (d. 1631), who married, in February 1618, as his second wife,
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon (29 February 1572 – 16 November 1638) was an English military commander and a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1624.
Life
Cecil was the third son of Thomas Ceci ...
(1572–1638).
[.]
*Susanna Drury, who died unmarried in 1607
Notes
References
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External links
Drury, Sir William (1550–90), of Hawstead, SuffolkRetrieved 10 March 2013
Drury, Robert (?1524–57), of Hawstead, SuffolkRetrieved 10 March 2013
Drury, Sir Robert (1575–1615), History of ParliamentRetrieved 10 March 2013
Cecil, William (1566–1640), History of ParliamentRetrieved 10 March 2013
Will of Sir William Drury, National Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drury, William
1550 births
1590 deaths
Politicians from Suffolk
High Sheriffs of Suffolk
English MPs 1572–1583
English MPs 1584–1585
English justices of the peace
English duellists
People from Hawstead