William Hervey, 1st Baron Hervey (c.1565 – July 1642), was an English soldier and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

between 1601 and 1611.

Biography

Hervey was the son of Henry Hervey and his wife Jane Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, of Llanvihangell. He was grandson of Sir Nicholas Hervey, of Ickworth, Suffolk. He was in service against the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

and was knighted at Cadiz by the Earl of Essex on 27 June 1596. He served afterwards in Ireland.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage Volume 1'' 1900
cf. Edward Chaney‘ “Thy pyramids buylt up with newer might”: Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt.’ Aegyptiaca; Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt, No. 5 (2020), pp. 263-344. https://doi.org/10.11588/aegyp.2020.5.76145 In 1601, Hervey was elected Member of Parliament for

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. He was elected MP for

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

in 1604. He was created

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 ...

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

on 31 May 1619. On 5 August 1620, he was created Baron Hervey of Rosse, County Wexford. He was created Baron Hervey of Kidbrooke, Kent, on 27 February 1628. The baronetcy merged into these peerages and continued until his death in 1642, when all his other honours became extinct. Hervey married firstly, in May 1597, Mary, dowager Countess of Southampton, widow of Sir Thomas Heneage, and formerly of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and daughter of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, by his first wife, Jane Radcliffe, daughter of

Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex Robert Radcliffe, 10th Baron Fitzwalter, 1st Earl of Sussex, KG, KB, PC (c. 148327 November 1542), also spelt Radclyffe, Ratcliffe, Ratcliff, etc., was a prominent courtier and soldier during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, who serve ...

. They had no issue and she died in 1607. He married secondly on 5 February 1607, Cordell Annesley, daughter of Brian Annesley, of Lee and Kidbrooke, Kent, gentleman-pensioner, and his wife Audrey Tirrell, daughter of Tirrell, of Essex, warden of the

Fleet Prison Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846. History The prison was built in 1197 off what is now ...

. As the step-father of the Earl of Southampton, Hervey has been suggested as one of several candidates to be the "Mr W. H." of Shakespeare's sonnets and has also been proposed as their transmitter for publication.Gerald Massey, ''Athenaeum'' dated 27 April 1867, p. 552, cited by Edward Chaney, 'Shakespeare and Egypt' (paper delivered at University of Chichester conference, 29 October 2010, 'Shakespeare: Puzzles, Mysteries, Investigations'); cf. Chaney, as above,‘ “Thy pyramids buylt up with newer might”: Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt.’

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hervey, William 1500s births Year of birth missing 1642 deaths English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English people of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) Barons Hervey Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Barons in the Peerage of England Peers of Ireland created by James I Peers of England created by Charles I