Lieutenant Admiral Lieutenant admiral () is a senior naval military rank in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The rank is a four-star rank, senior to a vice-admiral () and equivalent to admiral in most foreign navies. It is used whenever the Dutch Chief of Defence is fro ...

Sir William Woodhouse (by 1517 – 22 November 1564) was an English naval commander and administrator who rose to the rank of

Lieutenant of the Admiralty The Lieutenant of the Admiralty is a now honorary office generally held by a senior retired Royal Navy admiral. He is the official deputy to the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom. He is appointed by the Sovereign on the nomination of the First ...

and was head of the

Council of the Marine The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

later called the Navy Board. He also served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

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 advised ...

from 1545 to 1564. He was prominent during an important time of the Navy Royal's development in the later half of the

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

Naval career

William Woodhouse was a naval commander and administrator who served under Henry VIII of England. He went to sea early in life and his career advanced through service to the King. He was granted offices in Lynn Norfolk, and was appointed

Escheator Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

for Norfolk and Suffolk from 1538 to 1539. This was followed by his being appointed bailiff of the manor of Gaywood in 1540. In September 1542 he was appointed Captain of HMS Primrose until January 1543. In February 1543 he was appointed admiral of four ships in the North Sea. In November 1543 he took charge of 10 ships stationed at Portsmouth with the intention of attacking French fishing waters. Appointed Vice-Admiral of the Fleet of the Earl of Hertford's expedition to Scotland in early 1544, he was knighted in

Leith, Scotland Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

in May 1544. He was next appointed Vice-Admiral in the Channel and Vice-Admiral at Boulogne from July to November 1544 serving under Admiral Sir Thomas Seymour. In April 1546 he was appointed a member of the

and made

Master of Naval Ordnance The Master of Naval Ordnance was an English Navy appointment created in 1546 the office holder was one of the Chief Officers of the Admiralty and a member of the Council of the Marine and a member of the Office of Ordnance until the post was abo ...

from 1546 to 1552. His next appointment came in 1552 when he was given the office of the Keeper of Queenborough Castle which he held until 1553.Bindoff. pp.653-655. In December 1546 he was appointed head of the Council of the Marine as

until 1564. In 1554 he was appointed as both

Vice-Admiral of Suffolk S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

and Vice-Admiral of Norfolk until 1564. In 1557 he was a commander with John Clere of a fleet sent against Scotland. Clere died fighting at

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

.C. S. Knighton & David Loades, ''Navy of Edward VI and Mary I'' (Navy Records Society, 2011), pp. 342-5. In October 1558 he was appointed for a second time

Vice-Admiral in the Channel The Channel Squadron also referred to as the Western Squadron (1512-1649) was a series of temporary naval formations first formed in under the English Tudor Navy Royal during the sixteenth century. Later during the Interregnum a channel squadro ...

until January 1559. He remained as head of the Council of the Marine until 22 November 1564 when he died in office. The post of Lieutenant of the Admiralty then fell into abeyance until 1604.

Political career

William Woodhouse was also served as 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 ...

of the

elected for Great Yarmouth from 1545 to 1553, for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in 1558,

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

from 1559 to 1563, and Norfolk again from 1563 to his death in 1564. He is described as "of Hickling, Norfolk".

Family

Woodhouse was the younger son of John Woodhouse of Waxham and his elder brother was Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Woodhouse.

Footnotes

Bibliography

# Bindoff, Stanley Thomas (1982). The House of Commons, 1509-1558: History of Parliament Trust. Woodbridge, England: Boydell & Brewer. . # "Woodhouse, Sir William (by 1517-64), of Hickling, Norf". The History of Parliament. History of Parliament Trust. {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodhouse, William 1564 deaths 16th-century Royal Navy personnel Year of birth uncertain English admirals English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) English MPs 1558 English MPs 1559 English MPs 1563–1567 People from Hickling, Norfolk 1517 births Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Members of the Parliament of England for Norwich Members of the Parliament of England for Great Yarmouth Military personnel from Norfolk