Sir William Hussey (or Huse or Husee) of

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the nor ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, SL (1443 – 8 September 1495) was an English lawyer who served as Attorney General and as Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

Family

Hussey was the son of John Hussey (or Huse or Husee) of Old Sleaford,

, and his wife, Elizabeth Nesfield (or Neffield), of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Career

He was a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, and on 16 June 1471 was appointed Attorney General, with full power of deputing clerks and officers under him in courts of record. As Attorney General he conducted the impeachment of the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England. The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...

for treason. In Trinity term of 1478 he was made a

Serjeant-at-Law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

, and on 7 May 1481 was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in succession to Sir

Thomas Billing Sir Thomas Billing (died 1481) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Early life and career Billing is said by Fuller to have been a native of Northamptonshire, where two villages near Northampton bear his name, and to have ...

, at a salary of 140 marks a year. This appointment was renewed at the ascension of each of the next three kings, and under Henry VII, he was also a commissioner to decide the claims made to fill various offices at the coronation. In the first year of this reign, he successfully protested against the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

's practice of consulting the judges beforehand upon crown cases which they were subsequently to try. In June 1492, he was a commissioner to treat with the ambassadors of the King of France. He died 8 September 1495, and was buried at

Sempringham Sempringham is a hamlet in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from the A52 road, east from Grantham and north from Bourne. The hamlet is in the civil parish of Pointon and Sempringham, and on the wes ...

. On 24 November of that year, Sir

John Fineux Sir John Fineux (or Fyneux) ( 1441 – 1526) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Early life and career Fineux was the son of William Fyneux of Swingfield, Kent, his mother's name being Monyngs. The family of Fyneux or ...

succeeded him as Chief Justice.

Marriage and issue

About 1474, Sir William Hussey married Elizabeth Berkeley (c. 1453 – 1504), daughter of Sir Thomas Berkeley of

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, south-west of Norwich off the A11 road to London. The River Tiffey runs through. The parish, one of Norfolk's largest, includes rural areas to ...

, Leicestershire, and wife Petronella Brokesby or Brooksby. They had three sons and two daughters: *

John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1476–1537), eldest son and heir, who married firstly Margaret Blount and secondly Lady Anne Grey. * Sir Robert Hussey of Linwood, Lincolnshire (1483 – 20 May 1546), second son, who married firstly Anne Saye and secondly Jane Stydolf. By his first wife he had a son, Sir Charles Hussey. By his second wife he had a daughter,

Elizabeth Hussey Elizabeth Hussey (died c. 1606), later Elizabeth Crane and Elizabeth Carleton, was a religious activist with strong Puritan sympathies. She and her second husband, George Carleton, were prosecuted for involvement in the Marprelate controver ...

, who was the 'Mistress Crane' involved in the printing of the

Marprelate tracts The Marprelate Controversy was a war of pamphlets waged in England and Wales in 1588 and 1589, between a puritan writer who employed the pseudonym Martin Marprelate, and defenders of the Church of England which remained an established church. ...

. From Sir Robert Hussey descend the Hussey family of Honnington, Leicestershire (see Hussey Baronets). * Sir William Hussey (d. 1531), who married Anne Salvaine, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Salvaine of Thorpe,

.Walter C. Metcalfe (1881), Visitation of Lincolnshire 1562–1564. * Elizabeth Hussey (d.

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

, 19 November 1516, bur.

Warden Abbey Wardon or Warden Abbey, Bedfordshire, was one of the senior Cistercian houses of England, founded about 1135 from Rievaulx Abbey. It is a Grade I listed building. History The patron was Walter Espec, who had founded the mother house and se ...

), who married

Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent KG (1481 – 3 May 1524) was an English peer. Family He was a son of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent and his first wife Anne Woodville. His maternal grandparents were Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacq ...

, but died without issue. * Mary Hussey (1484), who married

William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1482–1526), was an English baron and the largest landowner in Lincolnshire. He was the son of Sir Christopher Willoughby (died c. 1498) and Margaret or Marjery Jenney (daughter of Sir Willi ...

(d. 1525), without issue.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

Will of Sir William Hussey, PROB 11/10/592, proved 4 July 1496, National Archives
11 December 2013
Will of Dame Elizabeth Hussey, widow, PROB 11/14/415, proved 11 December 1504, National Archives
11 December 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, William Lord chief justices of England and Wales People from Sleaford, Lincolnshire English knights

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 ...

1443 births 1495 deaths 15th-century English people Knights Bachelor