Sir William Herrick or Hericke (1562 – 2 March 1653) was an English jeweller, courtier, diplomat and politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
at various times between 1601 and 1622.
Life
Herrick was the son of John Heyrick of Leicester and was baptised on 9 December 1562. His father was an ironmonger at Leicester. He was sent to London in about 1574 to be apprenticed to his elder brother Nicholas Herrick, a goldsmith in Cheapside. After six years he set up a business on his own in Wood Street on premises leased from the
Goldsmith's Company. He also became a moneylender and in a few years he had made himself a fortune and was able to purchase
Beau Manor Park from the Earl of Essex, and obtained a right to arms. He came to the notice of
Queen Elizabeth, who sent him on a mission to the Ottoman Porte and on his return he was rewarded with a lucrative appointment in the Exchequer. He was made a freeman of Leicester in 1601 when he presented the corporation with a dozen silver spoons in lieu of a fee.
In 1601, Herrick 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 o ...
for
Leicester.
He became principal jeweller to
King James,
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
and
Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to:
People
*Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father
*Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460)
*Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...
in 1603, and held the post until 1625. Herrick and
John Spilman Sir John Spilman (also spelt Spielman) (died 1626) was a Lindau, German-born entrepreneur who founded the first commercially successful paper-mill in England, establishing a factory on the River Darenth in Dartford, Kent in 1588.Dartford: Cradle of ...
repaired some of the crown jewels for the coronation of James and Anne of Denmark. They also worked with
Arnold Lulls Arnold Lulls (floruit 1580–1625) was a Flemish goldsmith and jeweller in London. He served the court and made several pieces intended as diplomatic gifts.
Career
He was born in Antwerp, and settled in London before 1585, and became a denizen of E ...
.
On 12 January 1604 Herrick and Spilman were asked to assess and make an inventory of jewels that had belonged to Queen Elizabeth. James had already given many pieces to the queen,
Princess Elizabeth, and
Arbella Stuart
Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marri ...
and others. The remaining jewels had been transferred from the keeping of
Mrs Mary Radcliffe, former gentlewoman to Queen Elizabeth, to the
Countess of Suffolk. Other pieces of Elizabeth's jewelley were delivered by
Thomas Knyvet. He had kept them at
Westminster Palace
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
on the instructions of Queen Elizabeth, and James and his courtiers sent some to Spilman and Herrick for valuation, with an ivory coffer, and a "great rich glass set with diamonds rubies emeralds and pearls, made in the form of a woman upon a pillar or case holding a clock with diverse motions" worth £2,739 brought from 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 ...
.
He became a freeman of the City of London in May 1605 and was knighted in the same year. It was said that the King knighted him for the difficult task of making a hole in a great diamond that he wore.
In July 1606 Herrick and John Spilman supplied pearls for the King's embroiderer William Broderick at the time of the visit of
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...
, the brother of Anne of Denmark. The pearls were intended for the king's saddle and the furniture of his horse, and the panes of the kings hose or stockings.
He served as MP for Leicester for part of the 1604–1611 parliament. He was prime warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company from 1605 to 1606. In 1607 he took as apprentice his nephew
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
the future poet. In 1621 he was elected MP for Leicester again.
[
In 1612 Herrick lent £2 to the painter ]Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard () was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, ...
, a fellow member of the Goldsmith's Company, and Hilliard had to pawn a miniature portrait of King James to repay this debt.
In 1624 Lionel Cranfield, the Lord Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...
, appointed Philip Jacobson as a goldsmith to the king, noting that George Heriot
George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...
was dead and Spilman and Herrick rarely did any work.
Herrick, with the other royal jewellers Abraham Harderet, George Heriot
George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...
and John Spilman Sir John Spilman (also spelt Spielman) (died 1626) was a Lindau, German-born entrepreneur who founded the first commercially successful paper-mill in England, establishing a factory on the River Darenth in Dartford, Kent in 1588.Dartford: Cradle of ...
, joined the funeral procession of Anna of Denmark in 1619.
Herrick died at the age of about 90 and was buried at St Martin's Church, Leicester.[
]
Family
Herrick married Joan May, daughter of Richard May of London and of Mayfield Place, Sussex on 6 May 1596, and had at least one son, Henry Herrick, born 1604. His brother Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was also an MP.[
Herrick was the uncle, and later guardian, of the poet Robert Herrick and supported him financially during his time at ]Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Art UK - Portrait of Sir William Herrick
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrick, William
1562 births
1653 deaths
English jewellers
English MPs 1601
English MPs 1621–1622
16th-century English diplomats
Politicians from Leicester
17th-century English politicians