William Leveson (died 1621) was a member of the

Worshipful Company of Mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

and of the Company of Merchant Adventurers. Together with Thomas Savage, he was one of the trustees used by the original shareholders of the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

in the allocation of their shares in 1599. Later, Leveson was involved in the suppression of the

Essex rebellion Essex's Rebellion was an unsuccessful rebellion led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, in 1601 against Queen Elizabeth I of England and the court faction led by Sir Robert Cecil to gain further influence at court. Background Robert Devereux, ...

on 8 February 1601. In 1613 he was sued by the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Main ...

Family

William Leveson was a younger son of Thomas Leveson (1532–1576), second son of the London

mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

Nicholas Leveson (d.1539) by Denise or Dionyse Bodley (d.1561), youngest daughter of Thomas Bodley (d.1493) and

Joan Leche Joan Leche (c. 1450 – March 1530), benefactress, was the wife successively of Thomas Bodley, and of Thomas Bradbury, Lord Mayor of London in 1509. She founded a chantry in London, and a grammar school in Saffron Walden, Essex. Her great-grandso ...

(d. March 1530). His mother was Ursula Gresham (1534–1574), one of the twelve children of Sir John Gresham,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. Leveson had an elder brother,

Sir John Leveson Sir John Leveson (21 March 1555 – 14 November 1615) was an English politician. He was instrumental in putting down the Essex rebellion of 8 February 1601. Family John Leveson, born 21 March 1555 at Whornes Place, Cuxton, Kent, was the eldest ...

,. who played a key role in the suppression of the rebellion of

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...

, on 8 February 1601.

Career

Leveson traded for twenty years as a merchant. He was a member of the

Mercers' Company The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

, the

Company of Merchant Adventurers of London The Company of Merchant Adventurers of London was a trading company founded in the City of London in the early 15th century. It brought together leading merchants in a regulated company in the nature of a guild. Its members' main business was exp ...

, and the Company of Merchants for the Discovery of Regions Unknown. Leveson experienced difficulty in being admitted to the Merchant Adventurers; in 1586 the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

sent a letter to the Company urging Leveson's admission on the ground that he had been apprenticed to Robert Roe, one of the company's members, and had committed no fault. According to Honigmann, a lawsuit in the

Court of Requests The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor an ...

in 1592 between William Leveson, mercer, and William Chapman, salter, and Roger James and his son of the same name, brewers, indicates that Leveson was 'already operating on a large scale in 1592'.. In 1595 Leveson was imprisoned on the complaint of

Richard Carmarden Richard Carmarden (died 1603) was an English merchant, member of the Merchant Taylors Company, and Surveyor of the Customs for London. He paid for the printing of the Bible in English in Rouen in 1566, and in 1570 wrote ''A Caveat for the Quene''. ...

, Surveyor of Customs for the Port of London. When Carmarden's officers confiscated Leveson's packs, Leveson and others beat the officers and uttered 'wild words' against the Queen's authority. Leveson was released from custody after begging pardon and paying costs. According to Honigmann, it was about this time that

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

began to use Leveson as the recipient of letters from foreign informants. Letters intended for Cecil were addressed to 'Mr William Lewson, merchant, at London'. Honigmann suggests that Leveson perhaps came to Cecil's attention at this time through Leveson's cousin,

William Waad Sir William Wade (or Waad, or Wadd; 154621 October 1623) was an English statesman and diplomat, and Lieutenant of the Tower of London. Early life and education Wade was the eldest son of Armagil Wade, the traveller, who sailed with a party of ...

, Clerk of the Privy Council. In 1599 Leveson was one of two trustees used by

William Kempe William Kempe (c. 1560–c. 1603), commonly referred to as Will Kemp, was an English actor and dancer specialising in comic roles and best known for having been one of the original players in early dramas by William Shakespeare. Roles associat ...

Thomas Pope Sir Thomas Pope (c. 150729 January 1559), was a prominent public servant in mid-16th-century England, a Member of Parliament, a wealthy landowner, and the founder of Trinity College, Oxford. Early life Pope was born at Deddington, near Ban ...

(d.1603),

Augustine Phillips Augustine Phillips (died May 1605) was an Elizabethan actor who performed in troupes with Edward Alleyn and William Shakespeare. He was one of the first generation of English actors to achieve wealth and a degree of social status by means of his ...

(d.1605),

John Heminges John Heminges (bapt. 25 November 1566 – 10 October 1630) was an actor in the King's Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. Along with Henry Condell, he was an editor of the First Folio, the collected plays of Shakespeare ...

(bap. 1566, d. 1630) and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

(1564-1616) to allocate shareholdings in the

. At the time, Leveson was churchwarden in the parish of

St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Aldermanbury was a parish church in the City of London first mentioned in 1181 and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt in Portland stone by Christopher Wren, it was again gutted by the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the ...

. Later, he resided in Philip Lane 'over against the great Digges mansion'. Leveson was involved in the suppression of the rebellion of

on 8 February 1601. As a reward, Leveson asked Queen Elizabeth to grant him the lease of the Golden Key in Cheapside, a property owned by the

. The Queen supported his request with a letter to the Mercers, but in the end Leveson did not obtain the lease. In 1607 Leveson raised funds for the

, and is said to have collected 'great sums' for it. In 1613, as receiver of moneys raised in the company's lottery, he was the subject of a lawsuit by the company, which filed a Bill of Complaint in the

High Court of Chancery High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

on 15 November 1613, to which Leveson responded by an Answer dated 30 November 1613. Along with Leveson, the Company sued one William Hall, esquire, who filed an Answer on 15 February 1614. The lawsuit is a valuable source of information concerning the Virginia Company's first lottery:

The only record which will give an idea of the value of the first lottery is in the chancery proceedings, and relates to a suit of the company with William Leveson to secure moneys from the lottery, in which the sum received in 1613 is here stated to have been £2,793 and 10 shillings. The answer of Leveson is of further interest in that it alone tells of the methods by which the business was conducted and of the house built for the lottery west of St. Paul’s Church.

Leveson's will suggests that his fortunes declined in his latter years. He made his last will on 8 January 1621, leaving bequests to his wife Mary, his sons, Thomas and James, and to various servants, and died not long afterward. The will was proved on 21 June 1621.Will of William Leveson, proved 21 June 1621, National Archives
Retrieved 9 April 2013.

Notes

References

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External links

Will of William Leveson, proved 21 June 1621, National Archives
Retrieved 8 April 2013
Will of William Leveson, mercer, of St Dunstan in the East, proved 27 June 1593, National Archives
Retrieved 17 April 2013
Will of Thomas Leveson of Halling, Kent, proved 20 October 1576, National Archives
Retrieved 6 April 2013
Will of Nicholas Leveson, proved 18 October 1539, National Archives
Retrieved 6 April 2013
Will of Nicholas Leveson, The Sutherland Collection, Staffordshire Archives
Retrieved 6 April 2013
Will of Dionyse Leveson, proved 20 December 1560, National Archives
Retrieved 6 April 2013
Will of Sir John Leveson of Halling, Kent, proved 10 November 1615, National Archives
Retrieved 8 April 2013
Leveson, Sir John (1556–1615), History of Parliament
Retrieved 6 April 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leveson, William Year of birth unknown 1621 deaths 16th-century English people 17th-century English people