Sir Edward Darrell (1465/66 – 1530), of Littlecote, Wiltshire, was an English politician. He is chiefly remembered as the father of Elizabeth Darrell, who was a

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen ...

to Queen

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. Elizabeth had a notorious affair with the poet

Sir Thomas Wyatt Sir Thomas Wyatt (150311 October 1542) was a 16th-century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet credited with introducing the sonnet to English literature. He was born at Allington Castle near Maidstone in Kent, though the family was o ...

, by whom she had several children, and was later rumoured to have planned to become the sixth Queen of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

He was the only son of Sir George Darrell of Littlecote (died 1474), Keeper of the Great Wardrobe to King

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...

, and his second wife Joan Haute, daughter of William Haute. His father died when Edward was eight years old, and he succeeded to very substantial estates, the bulk of which were in Wiltshire: Littlecote House was the principal family residence. He had at least one half-sister Elizabeth, who married John Seymour: they were the grandparents of Queen

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

. Despite his

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

background, his loyalty to the

Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and it ...

was never seriously in doubt, and he prospered as a result. He fought for the victorious King Henry VII at the

Battle of Stoke Field The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and Yo ...

in 1487, when he was barely of age, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

as a result. King Henry seems to have had complete trust in Edward, even after his father-in-law Lord Fitzwalter was executed for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in 1496. He was made Vice-Chamberlain of the household to

, and in that capacity accompanied her and the king to Henry's meeting in 1520 with

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...

at the

Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English ...

. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advise ...

for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in 1529. He died before the Parliament was asked to approve Henry VIII's decision to divorce

, but as a long-serving member of Catherine's household, he is thought to have been opposed to it. He served five times as

Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

. He was married three times. His first wife was Jane Croft, daughter of Sir Richard Croft of

Croft Castle Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 ...

. His second wife was Mary Radcliffe, daughter of John Radcliffe, 9th

Baron Fitzwalter Baron FitzWalter is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 24 June 1295 for Robert FitzWalter. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. His great-grandson, the fou ...

and Margaret Whetehill; Lord Fitzwalter was executed for treason in 1496. His third wife was Alice Flye, widow of Edmund Stanhope. He had at least seven children: John, Edward (possibly a confusion with Edmund), Edmund, Jane (first wife of Sir Anthony Hungerford), Elizabeth (mistress of Sir Thomas Wyatt and wife of Robert Stroud), Anne (wife of Sir John Hungerford), Catherine (wife of Francis Choke) and another Elizabeth (wife of Thomas Lawson). John, his eldest son, predeceased him and his estates passed to John's son Edmund. The Darrells profited from a close family connection to Jane Seymour, who was the elder Sir Edward's grandniece. Later in the century, however, they fell into serious financial difficulties, and were forced to sell Littlecote in 1589.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darrell, Edward 1460s births 1530 deaths English MPs 1529–1536 People from Wiltshire