William Rosewell (Solicitor-General)

William Rosewell (c. 1520–1566) was the Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth between 1559 and 1566.

William Rosewell was born about 1520, the son of William Rosewell (Rowswell) (d. 1570) of Loxton, Somerset, England. He came to some prominence as Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth. He appears in the list of Queen's Counsel between 1558 and 1603 as W. Ruswell (or Mr. Russell) and was Solicitor-General from 1559 until his death in 1566. He was succeeded by Richard Onslow. He purchased a number of estates in Somerset and Devon.

Family

About 1559 William Rosewell, the Solicitor-General, married Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew Dale, a wealthy haberdasher of Bristol and London.Wotton, Thomas. "The English Baronetage." Printed at The Three Daggers and Queen's Head, Fleet Street, London, 1741. Vol. II p. 34. She was the widow of Gregory Isham, of Braunston, Northants who died in 1558. She is not mentioned in the Solicitor General's will, so it is assumed that she predeceased him.James, Frances B (1888), ''Sir Henry Rosewell – A Devon Worthy'', Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 20, 113-122. William and Elizabeth had three children – Parry (d. 1573), William (1561–1593), and Philippa. Parry died before he came of age. The second son, William, was born in 1561 and inherited from Parry in 1573. This William came into the possession of Forde Abbey, Devon in about 1581. He married Ann Walkeden in 1588 and had one child, Sir Henry Rosewell in 1590. William died at Ilminster, Somerset in 1593. Philippa married Sir George Speke of Whitelackington, Somerset in 1584.

Career

William Rosewell was at the Middle Temple, London, in 1556 and was chosen as Assistant to the Reader of that institution in 1562. William Rosewell was appointed as Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth on 1 February 1559.

Only four items have been found relative to his action while in office. With the Attorney-General, Gerard, he signed a note, concerning grants of privileges to the University of Cambridge, about 1561; and in 1563 he made a note of the grant of the advowson of Northchurch. He was one of 13 noblemen and officers of the state appointed as mourners for the honourable celebration of the funeral of the Emperor in 1564.Rogers, T.E. (1890) ''Records of Yarlington''. Elliott Stock, London. p. 94. The Chamber Accounts of 1562–63 show that he received a reward of 40 shillings per year.

Despite a humble background, he was able to use his education to achieve high professional and social status. His marriage to the rich widow, Elizabeth Isham, may also have assisted him to acquire a large property portfolio, which in many instances he purchased from those who had obtained property following the dissolution of the monasteries.Rosewell, C.J. (2009), ''Rosewell: Landholders of Somerset, Devon and Wiltshire in the 16th and 17th Centuries'', Somerset Heritage Centre, PAM 2975, 28 pp.

Landholdings

In 1556 Sir Thomas Smith, of Ankerwycke, in the county of Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire), sold the Manor and advowson of Yarlington, Somerset to William Rosewell, of Loxton, and William Rosewell, his son and heir of the Middle Temple, London for £1,000. A lease written in 1562 shows that William Rosewell, Solicitor-General, lived at the Yarlington Manor. The Solicitor-General died before his father who then left it to the third generation, William Rosewell of Forde Abbey. After being in the hands of the Rosewells for 36 years the Manor and advowson of Yarlington was sold to Sir Henry Berkeley, of Bruton in 1592 for £2,400.

A deed of 10 November 1563 shows that William Rosewell together with associates, Humphrey Colles (Coles), Henry Portman, and William Hawley (Halley), Esquires, purchased the Manor and advowson of Thurloxton, Somerset. The Manor was sold before his death in 1566.

At the time of his death the Solicitor-General held 'the manors of Ermington and "Carswell" (Kerswell Priory, Broadhembury) and of the Hundred of Ermington in Devon; the manors of Southbrent, Stapleton, Limington and Alford, in Somerset; the advowsons of the Churches of Limington and Alford; and 300 messuages, 200 tofts, 6 watermills, 2 windmills, 6 dovecotes, 300 gardens, 3000 acres of land, 1000 acres of meadow, 2000 acres of pasture, 200 acres of wood, 3000 acres of furze and heath, and £20 of rent with the appurtenances

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases