Sir William Hody (born before 1441, died 1524) of

Pilsdon Pilsdon is a hamlet and civil parish in the Dorset unitary authority area of Dorset, England. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population is 50. The Grade II* Pilsdon Manor House dates from the start of the 17th cen ...

in Dorset,

Heraldic Visitation Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as their deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate the ...

of Dorset 1565, p.21 was an English lawyer, judge and politician who served as Attorney General of England and

Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pre ...

under King Henry VII.

Origins

He was born before 1441, the second son of Sir John Hody (d. 1441),

Chief Justice of the King's Bench Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. His sister, Elisabeth Hody, married Sir Robert Strode of

Parnham House Parnham House is a sixteenth-century Grade I listed house located about from Beaminster in Dorset, England. Historic England describes the house as "exceptionally important". In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire. History The or ...

, Dorset which they re-built from 1522.

Career

He was a

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 in 1472, and for in 1483. His name is first mentioned in the year-books in 1476. He procured a reversal of the attainder of his uncle, Sir Alexander Hody (of Bowre, Somerset), who had been attainted at Edward IV's accession for adherence to the

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 126 ...

during the

wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. In 1485, shortly after the accession of King Henry VII, Hody became

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney ...

. On 29 October 1486 he was appointed

. He retired as a judge in 1522.

Marriage and children

William Hody married (1st) Eleanor Malet, daughter of Sir Baldwin Malet of 'Corypool' (now

Curry Mallet Curry Mallet (anciently "Cory Mallett") is a village and parish in Somerset, England. It is on the Fivehead River (also known as the River Ile), east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 306. History At the ...

) in Somerset, Solicitor General to King Henry VIII, who was the second son of Thomas Malet (died 1502) by his wife Joan Wadham, daughter of Sir William Wadham. By his wife he had two sons and two daughters: *Reignold Hody, eldest son; *William Hody of Pilsdon, 2nd son, who married twice: (1st) to Margery Keyne, daughter and heiress of Anthony Keyne, of Kent, by whom he had three sons: Richard, John and William; He married (2nd) Anne Strode, daughter of John Strode, of Chalmington, Dorset, by whom he had a daughter Mary Hody (d.19 November 1588), wife of Sir Thomas Carew (1518-1586) of

Haccombe Haccombe is a hamlet, former parish and historic manor in Devon, situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county. It is possibly the smallest parish in England, and was said in 1810 to be remarkable for containing only two ...

in Devon. The separate

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...

es of Mary Hody and her husband survive in Haccombe Church. Mary's brass shows the arms of Carew impaling Hody and is inscribed in Latin as follows: ::''Hic jacet Maria Carew uxor Thomae Carew de Haccombe, Arm(igeri) & filia Will(elmi) Huddye de com(itatu) Dorset, Arm(igeri), quae obiit 19 die Nov(embris) A(nno) D(omini) 1588''Quoted by Prince, p.166 ("Here lies Mary Carew, wife of Thomas Carew of Haccombe, Esquire, and a daughter of William Huddye from the county of Dorset, who died on the 19th day of November in the year of our Lord 1588"). *Joan Hody, wife of Sir Richard Warre (died 1601) of

Hestercombe Hestercombe House is a historic country house in the parish of West Monkton in the Quantock Hills, near Taunton in Somerset, England. The house is a Grade II* listed building and the estate is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register o ...

; *Eme Hody, wife of Lawrence Wadham, a son of Sir William Wadham of

Merryfield, Ilton Merryfield (''alias'' Merrifield, Murefeld, Merefeld, Muryfield, Merifield, Wadham's Castle, etc.) is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called b ...

in Somerset and of

Edge, Branscombe Edge, (originally, ''Egge''), is an ancient and historic house in the parish of Branscombe, Devon, England and is today known as Edge Barton Manor. The surviving house is grade II* listed and sits on the steep, south-facing side of a wooded valle ...

in Devon.

Death

Hody died on 18 June 1524.

Notes

;Attribution , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hody, William 1524 deaths 15th-century English judges 16th-century English judges English MPs 1472 Chief Barons of the Exchequer Attorneys General for England and Wales

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 ...

Year of birth uncertain English MPs 1483 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Totnes