Sir Richard Southwell PC (c.1502/03 – 11 January 1564) was an English

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Biography

He was born at Windham Manor in

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 ...

, the son of Francis Southwell, an auditor of the exchequer, and Dorothy (née Tendring). He was the eldest brother of Robert Southwell, Francis Southwell and Anthony Southwell (husband of Anne Le Strange, daughter of Sir Thomas Le Strange). Richard's father died in 1512, and he inherited the estate. Less than two years later he was also to inherit the estate of his uncle Sir Robert Southwell (who had served as

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

for estates forfeited to Henry VII). In 1515 he became the ward of his uncle's widow and William Wootton. Sir Robert’s widow was Elizabeth Calthorpe (d.1517), the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. She would become the second wife of Thomas Brooke, 8th Baron Cobham. In 1519 Thomas Wyndham acquired the wardship. Wyndham married Southwell to his stepdaughter Thomasin, who was the daughter of Roger Darcy of

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

in Essex and sister of

Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche KG (4 December 1506 – 28 June 1558) was an English courtier during the reign of Edward VI. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 1550 and 1551 b ...

. They had a daughter. He later married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Darcy of Danbury, and the widow of Robert Leeche of Norwich, Norfolk. They had one legitimate daughter and two illegitimate sons (including Richard Southwell alias Darcy) and two illegitimate daughters. In 1526 he entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. He became tutor to Gregory Cromwell, son of

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. For some period Gregory lived with Southwell in Woodrising Manor in

, which Southwell had inherited from his uncle. In 1531 Southwell became a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Norfolk and Suffolk. In the same year, he was involved in the murder of

Sir William Pennington ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

and the following year he paid a fine of £1000 to obtain a pardon. From 1534 to 1535, Southwell was

High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Sheriff (since 1974 called High Sheriff) is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually by the Crown. He was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the c ...

. It was in 1536 that his portrait was painted by

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...

. He was a witness in the trial 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, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

, where he claimed not to have heard the details of the damning conversation between

Richard Rich Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He wa ...

and the accused. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in 1539 as

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) 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 Redistributio ...

for

and

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 Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1540. After the death of

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of James IV of Sco ...

, Southwell went to Edinburgh in January 1543 to negotiate with the Scottish lords. Southwell was a principal accuser of

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instan ...

, who was arrested in December 1546 on charges (very likely trumped up) of threatening the succession of Prince Edward by displaying the lions of England in his personal coat of arms. Following the arrest of Surrey's father, Thomas Howard, third duke of Norfolk, Southwell was one of three royal commissioners (along with Sir John Gates and Wymond Carew) sent to seize and inventory the Howards' possessions. He was one of the assistants to the executors of the

will of Henry VIII The will of Henry VIII of England was a significant constitutional document, or set of contested documents created in the 1530s and 1540s, affecting English and Scottish politics for the rest of the 16th century. In conjunction with legislation pass ...

. Southwell was one of the signatories of ''The Will of King Edward the Sixth, and His Devise for the Succession to the Crown''. He was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 12 March 1547, although he was removed from the full council the following year. He was reappointed by

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. Southwell was described as the driving force behind the plan to marry

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 ...

Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (c. 1527 – 18 September 1556) was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the ...

. He was re-elected to represent Norfolk again in 1542, 1553 and twice in 1554. He was Master of the Armoury from 1554 to 1559.

Notes

References

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External links

Biography, details of which are taken from the ''History of Parliament''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwell, Richard 1500s births 1564 deaths People from Wymondham High Sheriffs of Norfolk High Sheriffs of Suffolk English MPs 1539–1540 English MPs 1542–1544 English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554 English MPs 1554–1555 Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Privy Council of England English courtiers Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Court of Mary I of England

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...