Sir Giles Alington (June 1499 – 22 August 1586) was a knight;
Lord of the Manor
Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
of
Horseheath
Horseheath is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, situated a few miles south-east of Cambridge, between Linton and Haverhill, on the A1307 road. It was known to the Romans, and it had for a while a fine house in a great park, but both are n ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
; and High Sheriff and MP for
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
.
Family background
In the lead up to the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...
in 1485 King
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
appointed Sir William Alington of Horseheath, Knt., his Commissioner of Array for Cambridgeshire. He made his last will on 15 August and was killed fighting alongside
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk , also known as Jack of Norfolk, (22 August 1485), was an English nobleman, soldier, politician, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk. He was a close friend and loyal supporter of King Richard III, with whom h ...
. His son and heir was Sir Giles Alington (1483–1522), a
Knight of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
and twice
High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire
This is an ''incomplete'' list of sheriffs of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in England from 1154 until the abolition of the office in 1965.
Exceptionally, the two counties shared a single sheriff. Sheriffs had a one-year term of office, bei ...
, who had married Mary Gardiner, daughter & heiress of Sir Richard Gardiner, (died 1489)
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
by his spouse Audria, daughter of William Cotton, Lord of Landwade Manor, Cambridgeshire. The Alingtons who dwelt at Horseheath Hall thrived under the Tudor and Stuart monarchs, and had the privilege of handing to the King his first drink at coronations. Sir Giles Alington was one of the party attending Henry VIII at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold
The Field of the Cloth of Gold (, ) 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 Pale of Calais, it was a ...
tournament in 1520.
Biography
Sir Giles Alington was the eldest son of the eleven children of Sir Giles (1483-1522) and his wife, Mary. He was knighted by King
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
at
Whitehall Palace
The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...
, London, on 11 November 1530. He attended the King as Master of Ordnance at the siege of
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
, noted on the inscription of a clock which he brought from that siege, and affixed over the offices at Horseheath Hall, in which was contained the alarm bell of the garrison of Boulogne.
He was appointed
High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire
This is an ''incomplete'' list of sheriffs of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in England from 1154 until the abolition of the office in 1965.
Exceptionally, the two counties shared a single sheriff. Sheriffs had a one-year term of office, bei ...
in the 22nd year of the reign 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 known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
(1531) and again in the 37th year (1546) of the same monarch. He was returned to Parliament as
knight of the shire
Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...
(MP) for
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
in 1529, 1539, 1554 and 1558 and also for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in 1553. Alington served
Mary I of England
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous ...
her first drink at the banquet in
Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...
following her coronation in 1553.
The Alingtons lived at Horseheath Hall for centuries. The house was rebuilt in 1663–1665 by architect Sir Roger Pratt; (''
Vitruvius Britannicus
Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...
'' is wrong in assigning the house to Webb). It was a neo-classical eleven-bay house with a three-bay
pediment
Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
, quoins, hipped roof,
balustrade
A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...
and belvedere on the roof. It was further enlarged in 1688, but for reasons now unknown pulled down in 1777. The splendid
wrought-iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, and the
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
at
Cheveley
The village of Cheveley is situated in the county of Cambridgeshire and lies about four miles east-south-east of the market town of Newmarket. The population of the civil parish was 1,990 at the 2011 Census. Cheveley falls within the local ...
.
Marriages
Sir Giles Alington was married three times and outlived his son and heir. "The stmarriage, between Ursula daughter of Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead in the County of
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, knight, Privy Councillor" and "Sir Gyles Alington of Horseheath in the countie of Cambridge" is recorded on the tomb on their grandson, James Alington, in Milden parish church, Suffolk. By Ursula Drury (died 1523) Sir Giles had a son and heir, Sir Robert, Knt., (1520–1552), and a daughter who married John Spencer of
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 ...
.
His second marriage was to Alice Middleton (died before 1564), to whom he had a further five children, including Sir Richard Alington, later
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...
, (a magnificent monument to Sir Richard is in the Rolls Chapel,
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is a one-way street that forms part of the City of London#Boundary, western boundary of the City of London. The east side of the street is entirely within the City,ic; this should read grandsonGiles Alington and Margarett Ellington his Daughter which God is my witness I concluded and made with Sir John Spencer, rather for the goodwill and affection I bore unto him than for the profit. ... and could have had more by a thousand pounds ...". Sir John Spencer was left his "best gowne of velvett furred with marteins" provided he ceased pressure for more than Sir Giles thought "kindlie and frindlie." His second wife Alice was the stepdaughter of
Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...
.p. 384,
Eric Ives
Eric William Ives (12 July 1931 – 25 September 2012) was a British historian who was an expert on the Tudor period, and a university administrator. He was Emeritus Professor of English History at the University of Birmingham.
Early life
...
, ''Anne Boleyn''.
There are several Alington memorials within Horseheath parish church including a tomb of Sir Giles (died 1586) who lies in splendour with one of his sons, one above the other, both in armour, heads on helmets and feet on hounds. There is in addition a brass to Sir Robert Alington, Knt., (d.22 May 1552) who predeceased his father.
There is also another Giles Alington of Shakespeare's day on an impressive alabaster monument with his wife and their six children, he in slashed breeches and armour, she in a ruff and hooped skirt.
Family descendants
The arms of this family are: "Quarterly of six: 1, Sable, a bend engrailed argent between six billets of the second, ALINGTON; 2, Gules, on a bend argent three leopards' heads sable, BURGH; 3, Gules, three covered cups argent, ARGENTINE; 4, Azure, five marlets, two, two, and one or, a canton ermine; 5, Azure, six marlets, three, two, and one or; 6, Sable, per fess and pale argent countercharged three griffins' heads erased of the first.
Crest: - A talbot passant proper."
One of Sir Giles Alington's direct descendants, William Alington, became Baron Alington of Killard in the peerage of
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in 1642, and they were raised to that of England in 1682; the last Lord Alington d.s.p. in 1722. Arms: Sa. a bend engr. between eight billets ar. Crest: A talbot pass. ppr."
Another notable descendant is the Very Reverend Cyril Argentine Alington (d. 1955), Chaplain to H.M. King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
George w ...
, Dean of Durham, and sometime Headmaster of
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
. His daughter, Elizabeth Hester Alington (1909–1990), married Sir Alexander or
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
(1903–1995), 14th
Earl of Home
Earl of Home ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473) and Lord Dunglass (1605) in t ...
, Lord Home of the Hirsel, and sometime
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...