Sir William Spencer (22 June 1532) was an English nobleman, politician, knight, landowner, and High Sheriff from the

Spencer family The Spencer family is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill barony. Two prom ...

Life and family

Spencer was the son of John Spencer of Hodnell and

Wormleighton Wormleighton is a village in Warwickshire on top of Wormleighton Hill overlooking the River Cherwell, England. The population taken at the 2011 census was 183. The original village was by the banks of the Cherwell and can still be seen as a ...

, Warwickshire, and

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...

, Northamptonshire, and his wife, Isabella Graunt. In the parish church for Althorp, St Mary the Virgin in

Great Brington Great Brington is a village in Northamptonshire, England, in the civil parish of Brington, which at the 2011 Census had a population of about 200. St Mary the Virgin's church is the parish church. The villages name means 'Farm/settlement con ...

, Sir William bequeathed the church's east window of stained glass which depicted St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and the Spencer coat of arms, now in a south window of the chancel, in memory of his father, and a plain altar tomb with an Elizabethan tablet commemorating his life and death and that of his lady Susan, the daughter of Sir Richard Knightley.H. Gawthorne, S. Mattingly, G. W. Shaeffer, M. Avery, B. Thomas, R. Barnard, M. Young, Revd. N. V. Knibbs, R. Horne: "The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Great Brington. 800 Years of English History", published as "Brington Church: A Popular History" in 1989 and printed by Peerless Press. Spencer was appointed

Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

for 1531–32, but died in office and was replaced by Sir David Cecil. He was buried in Brington church, the parish church for Althorp.

Marriage and issue

Spencer married Susan Knightley, the daughter of Sir Richard Knightley, of

Fawsley Fawsley is a hamlet and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England.- OS Explorer Map 207: Newport Pagnell & Northampton South (1:25 000) The population at the 2001 census was 32. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and ...

, Northamptonshire and had a son, John Spencer, and five daughters. His daughter Isobel married Sir John Cotton, MP for Cambridgeshire. His daughter Jane married Sir

Richard Brydges Richard Brydges (1500–1558) was an English politician. Sir Richard Brydges was the Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1539 to 1540 and, at other times, for Ludgershall. The Brydges family leased and then owned the manor of Ludgershall ...

, MP for Berkshire.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, William 1490s births 1532 deaths People from Warwickshire

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 ...

High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire 16th-century English nobility Year of birth uncertain