Sir Nicholas L'Estrange, 1st Baronet (March 1604 – 24 July 1655) was an English

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and collector of anecdotes.

Biography

L'Estrange was the third but eldest surviving son of Sir Hamon le Strange and Alice Stubbe. He was raised at

Hunstanton Hall Hunstanton Hall, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, England is a country house dating originally from the 15th century. The gatehouse, now detached from the main building, is dated 1487. The wings were built in the seventeenth century and there are Victori ...

before attending

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1622. Two years later he was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1629, his father purchased a baronetcy in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

for him at a cost of £300, plus £100 in charges. On 26 August 1630 he married Anne (1612–1663), daughter of Sir Edward Lewkenor of Denham, West Suffolk. They had eight sons and three daughters. L'Estrange shared the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

views of his family, but there is no record of him taking an active part in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. He declined to attend an October 1642 meeting of militia commanders in Norwich summoned by the

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

authorities. Following this, the Norfolk parliamentary commanders ordered that his house should be searched and any arms removed. He managed to avoid the seizure of his estates under the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

and died on 24 July 1655 at Hunstanton, where he was buried. He was succeeded in his title by his son, Hamon.

Collector of anecdotes

L'Estrange played an active role in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

society as a senior member of the county's

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

and was often present at the assizes and parliamentary elections at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, as well as taking part in hunts and hawking sessions. He was an avid observer and recorder of these interactions, and collected over 600 anecdotes which were published anonymously in ''Merry Passages and Jests''. Many of the anecdotes were so coarse that when the collection was republished by the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary ...

as ''Anecdotes and Traditions'' in 1839, only 141 were deemed suitable to be printed. The attributions reveal his connections across

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

society, including observations on figures such as Sir Drue Drury, Clement Spelman, Sir John Hobart, Miles Hobart, and his relations

Hamon L'Estrange Hamon L'Estrange (1605–1660) was an English writer on history, theology and liturgy, of Calvinist views, loyal both to Charles I of England, Charles I and the Church of England. Along with Edward Stephens (d. 1706), he contributed to the seve ...

Roger L'Estrange Sir Roger L'Estrange (17 December 1616 – 11 December 1704) was an English pamphleteer, author, courtier and press censor. Throughout his life L'Estrange was frequently mired in controversy and acted as a staunch ideological defender of King ...

and Sir William Spring. The anecdotes present an unparalleled view of provincial life during the period and of the interaction between members of the gentry, as well as of the gossip of the taverns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Estrange, Nicholas, 1st Baronet 1604 births 1655 deaths 17th-century English non-fiction writers 17th-century English male writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 1 Cavaliers

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Members of Lincoln's Inn People from Hunstanton