Richard Shelley
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Richard Shelley (d. in
Marshalsea prison The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, in ...
, London, probably in February or March, 1586) was an English
recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
who presented to
Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
, or her Parliament, a petition drawn up to request greater religious tolerance for
Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. The details being disputed, he was imprisoned and died.


Life

The third son of John Shelley of Michelgrove,
Clapham, Sussex Clapham is a rural village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on varying downslopes and escarpment of the South Downs National Park three miles (5 km) north of Angmering on the A280 road and north of the ...
, he was for some time abroad in attendance on his uncle Sir Richard Shelley, the last Grand Prior of England of the Order of Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. He was given permission to return to England in May, 1583, which he did shortly afterwards.


The petition

Two accounts are extant of the petition he presented on behalf of his fellow Catholics, at that time severely limited by legislation in the practice of their religion. One is by Peter Penkevel, who was his servant in the Marshalsea at the time of his death. This is printed by John Hungerford Pollen. Peter Penkevel says he came to London about 1584, when Mr. Robert Bellamy and others were prisoners in the Marshalsea: but Robert Bellamy was not committed there till 30 January 1586. So Penkevel must be wrong in his dates, and all that he knows about the petition, which was presented (as he says, to the queen) nearly a year previously, is mere hearsay.
John Strype John Strype (1 November 1643 – 11 December 1737) was an English clergyman, historian and biographer from London. He became a merchant when settling in Petticoat Lane. In his twenties, he became perpetual curate of Theydon Bois, Essex and lat ...
on the other hand seems to have seen the petition, and according to him it was presented to Parliament. The only result was that Richard Shelley was sent to the Marshalsea, 15 March 1585. There he remained till his death, which probably took place in February or March, 1586. He was certainly alive and in the Marshalsea in October, 1585. He was sick when Peter Penkevel came to him, and "shortly after died, a constant confessor in the said prison".


Richard Shelley of Findon

This Richard Shelley must be distinguished from the Richard Shelley of Findon, Sussex, and
All Cannings All Cannings (pronounced "Allcannings") is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about east of Devizes. The parish includes the nearby smaller settlement of Allington. The southern part of the pa ...
, Wiltshire (second son of Edward Shelley of
Warminghurst Warminghurst is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Thakeham, in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It lies on the Ashington to Heath Common road 2.4 miles (3.9 km) northeast of Storrington. In 1931 the pari ...
, Sussex, and brother of Edward Shelley the martyr), who was committed to the Marshalsea for his religion, 13 August 1580. Mass was said in his chamber there by the priest William Hartley, 24 August 1582. He was still there 8 April 1584, but was liberated soon after. He was again in prison in 1592.


References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **Strype, Annals, III (Oxford, 1824), ii, 432-4; **Berry, Sussex Genealogies (London, 1830), 62; ** John Hungerford Pollen, ''Acts of the English Martyrs'' (London, 1891), 283; **Calendar State Papers Domestic (1581–90), 231, 276. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelley, Richard 1586 deaths Recusants Year of birth unknown People from Worthing (district) 16th-century Roman Catholics 16th-century English people English people who died in prison custody Inmates of the Marshalsea People from Arun District