Ancestral Trails 2016 » Gregory CROMWELL (1513-1551)

Persoonlijke gegevens Gregory CROMWELL 

• Hij is geboren in het jaar 1513 in Austin Friars Dutch Reformed Church, London.
• Titel: 1st Baron Cromwell
• Titel: Lord Cromwell
• Opleiding: Cambridge University.
• Hij is overleden op 4 juli 1551 in Launde Abbey, Launde, Leicestershire, hij was toen 38 jaar oud.

  Sweating Sickness

• Hij is begraven juli 1551 in Launde Abbey, Launde, Leicestershire.
• Een kind van Thomas CROMWELL en Elizabeth WYCKES

Gezin van Gregory CROMWELL

Hij is getrouwd met Elizabeth SEYMOUR.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 3 augustus 1537 te Mortlake, Surrey, hij was toen 24 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. Edward CROMWELL  1539-????
2. Henry CROMWELL  1538-1592 
3. Katherine CROMWELL  1541-1620
4. Frances CROMWELL  1532-???? 
5. Thomas CROMWELL  1540-1611 

Notities over Gregory CROMWELL

Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KB (c. 1520 - 4 July 1551) was an English Peer. He was the only son of the Tudor statesman Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex (c. 1485 - 1540) and his wife Elizabeth Wyckes (c. 1489 - c. 1528).

Gregory's father Thomas Cromwell rose from obscurity to become the chief minister of Henry VIII, who attempted to modernize government at the expense of the privileges of the nobility and church. He used his office to promote religious reform and was one of the strongest advocates of the English Reformation.

In 1537, Gregory married Elizabeth, Lady Ughtred, widow of Sir Anthony Ughtred, sister to Jane Seymour and therefore became brother-in-law to Henry VIII and uncle to Edward VI. Gregory survived the dramatic fall from royal favour and subsequent execution of his father in 1540, as well as the ousting of his brother-in-law and patron, Edward Seymour in 1549. He became a wealthy landowner, owning land and property in several counties in England, mainly in Rutland and Leicestershire.

Gregory's family connections had provided him with wealth, property and privileges; however, it was through his own intelligence and ability, combined with the remarkable education and training provided by his father, that he was able to benefit from them, leaving his wife and family well provided for at his death. Gregory was succeeded by his eldest son, and heir, Henry.

Gregory Cromwell died in July 1551, the same month as Henry Brandon, the young Duke of Suffolk and his brother Charles. There does not appear to be a surviving portrait of Gregory Cromwell; however, given Thomas Cromwell's patronage of Hans Holbein the Younger, it would be surprising if no portrait was painted during his youth or at the time of his marriage.

Early years
Gregory Cromwell was born in London around 1520. Surviving letters suggest that the home where he lived with his father, mother and grandmother, Mercy Pryor, was a happy one. Gregory's father, Thomas Cromwell, had "The habit of not taking himself too seriously, the friendly and familiar atmosphere out of which this comes, was evidently the atmosphere of Cromwell's house. And he seems to have early displayed that ready gratitude for kindness, that fidelity to those who had helped him, for which he became noted at home and abroad. People liked to go to his home and remembered their visit with pleasure."

A successful merchant and lawyer, Thomas Cromwell was a self-made man of relatively humble beginnings whose intelligence and abilities enabled him to rise to become the most powerful man in England next to the king. His own father, Walter Cromwell, had been a jack of all trades - a blacksmith, fuller and brewer who had, from time to time, come to the attention of the authorities. Thomas Cromwell was sent to school as a boy, where he learned to read and write and was taught a little Latin. Thomas Cromwell was determined to provide a more extensive education for his own son, Gregory.

Thomas and Elizabeth had three surviving children - a son, Gregory, and two daughters, Anne and Grace. Thomas Cromwell's wife died early in 1529, and his daughters, Anne and Grace, are believed to have died not long after their mother. Provisions made for Anne and Grace in Thomas Cromwell's will, written on 12 July 1529, have been crossed out at a later date.

Gregory Cromwell came to share his father's interests and religious beliefs and was closely following the religious developments taking place in England while his father was in office. Gregory's close friends, William Cecil and Ralph Sadler, were known adherents of the reformed faith. A letter written to Gregory by Henry Dowes in March 1540 reveals that he was deeply concerned about the recantation of the vicar of Stepney, William Jerome. In his report to his former pupil, Dowes noted that "your comaundemente hath fully persuaded me you to be nott a litle desyrous to receyve knowledge after what sorte he behaved himselfe, aswell concernyng his Recantation, as also the reste of thinges conteyned in his saide Sermon."

After the deaths of his wife and daughters, Thomas Cromwell was devoted to his son, Gregory, and his sister Catherine's son, Richard Williams (alias Cromwell) and they were a close family. One of Richard's letters to his uncle bemoaned their separation from one another. He wrote that "I never more desired anything, than since your departure, to see you, nor thought time longer in your absence." Gregory was equally effusive in a letter where he asked only for his father's blessing, which he described as "more treasure unto me then all the abundance of worldly goods." Gregory remained close to his father and looked up to his older cousin, Richard Cromwell, who had distinguished himself by his military skill and gallantry. Richard Cromwell adopted his uncle Thomas Cromwell's surname when he was made a Privy Councillor in 1531. Richard must have been fond of Gregory, leaving him "a great horse" in his will.

Education
Thomas Cromwell ensured his son received the best possible education at Cambridge with a number of carefully selected tutors, often sending gifts to Gregory and his older companions, Nicholas Sadler and cousins, Christopher Wellyfed and another known only as Beresford, who were educated with him. Gregory was at Cambridge from 1528 to 1533. During his education, he resided in Pembroke Hall and Christ's College and at the homes of his father's friends and colleagues.

It has been incorrectly asserted by early historians such as J. S. Brewer and R. B. Merriman and assumed by later historians like B.W. Beckingsale and David Loades that Gregory Cromwell was fourteen or fifteen when he was being educated at Cambridge in 1528 and therefore born around 1514.

This has led to negative speculation about the boy's character and abilities which can be disproved. Gregory was, in fact, beginning his education and not undertaking a degree at the end of his education. He did not obtain a degree at Cambridge. That would have been unusual for a gentleman's son at that time, unless he had been destined for a career in the church.

Sir Henry Ellis stated that "The date of Gregory Cromwell's birth is not recorded, but it could hardly have been earlier than 1520." It appears that Henry Ellis was right and that Gregory Cromwell was a small boy in 1528, no more than eight years old. Letters from Gregory's supervisors, tutors and mentors during his education point to a year of birth of around 1520.

As evidence that Gregory was very young in 1528, there are two letters written by John Chekyng, his tutor, to Thomas Cromwell, describing a little boy who plays and who is learning to read and write. The first letter, written in July 1528, states that his son Gregory "is not now at Cambridge, but in the country, where he works and plays alternately ... He is now studying the things most conducive to the reading of authors, and spends the rest of the day in forming letters." A second letter from Chekyng, written in November 1528, notes that "Little Gregory is becoming great in letters."

Another letter to Thomas Cromwell, which can be dated to between September 1529 and Whitsuntide 1530, written by Margaret Vernon provides further proof of Gregory's young age. Vernon wrote "You promised that I should have the governance of the child till he was 12 years old. By that time he shall speak for himself if any wrong be offered him, for as yet he cannot, except by my maintenance."

After the death of his mother, Gregory was placed in the care of his father's friend, Margaret Vernon, Prioress of Little Marlow, in Buckinghamshire. At that time it was not unusual for gentlemen to place their young children in the care of nuns. As a rule the boys in nunneries were very young as it was not considered appropriate for them to stay with the nuns later than their ninth or tenth year. The nuns were permitted to educate only the girls. It was acceptable for young boys, up to the age of nine or ten, to be supervised by nuns, but not taught by them, and so they were usually accompanied by a male tutor.

Margaret Vernon wrote to Cromwell in 1528 stating that "Your son and his master are in good health, and now prosper in learning more in one day than before in a week, by reason of Nich. Saddelar, who is of very good conditions. Mr. Copland every morning gives each of them a laten, the which Nicholas doth bear away, as well Gregory's lesson as his own, and maketh the same Gregory perfect against his time of rendering. The master takes such comfort that he is with them three times a day." Gregory's older companion, Nicholas Sadler, may have been a younger brother or perhaps a cousin of Sir Ralph Sadler, Thomas Cromwell's personal secretary and close friend. Nicholas Sadler also had with him a "little gentlewoman", who Margaret wished permission to educate herself, to fill up her leisure intervals.

Marriage and issue
In March 1537 Elizabeth, Lady Ughtred had written to Thomas Cromwell from York to seek his favour in acquiring one of the soon-to-be dissolved monasteries. Aged about nineteen she was the widow of Sir Anthony Ughtred who had died in 1534: a younger daughter of Sir John Seymour, sister of Jane Seymour and aunt of King Edward VI. The opportunity was not lost on Cromwell and he proposed instead that she marry his son and heir, Gregory. By June it appears that Cromwell's offer had been accepted, although Gregory had not been her only suitor. Sir Arthur Darcy had written to her on 15 June, regretting his loss: "If I do tarry here in the country, I would have been glad to have had you likewise, but sure it is, as I said, that some southern lord shall make you forget the North." The couple were married on 3 August 1537 at Mortlake.

Historian Derek Wilson has observed that in marrying his son Gregory to the then queen's younger sister, Thomas Cromwell became "related by marriage to the king, an event well worth recording for posterity by a portrait of his daughter-in-law." A portrait by Hans Holbein dated circa 1535-1540 exhibited at the Toledo Museum of Art as Portrait of a Lady, Probably a Member of the Cromwell Family (1926.57), once thought to be Queen Catherine Howard, may instead depict the wife of Gregory Cromwell. The lady is wearing a French hood, her sleeves are said to follow a style set by Anne of Cleves and she has wonderful blackwork decorating her cuffs. Born in around 1518, Elizabeth was probably in her twenty-first year in 1539 or 1540 and about the right age to be the sitter. The portrait may have been commissioned by Thomas Cromwell between January 1540 and early June 1540 when Anne of Cleves was queen consort and before his arrest. It is also possible that a portrait of Gregory was painted at the same time and has not survived.

It appears that Elizabeth had two children from her marriage to Anthony Ughtred. Sir Richard Southwell wrote to Thomas Cromwell in August 1537, saying that he had seen "a child of my lady your daughter's at Wylberffosse nunnery, Yorksh., who was in good health at the writing of this." As the writer refers to my lady your daughter, he could only be referring to Cromwell's new daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, and the child was in Yorkshire, where she had been living in the years since her marriage. This child may have been Henry Ughtred, born in 1533, in Jersey, or Margery Ughtred of Kexby, Yorkshire, who married William Hungate of Burnby, Yorkshire.

By October 1537 Elizabeth had become fond of her new father-in-law, telling him "which doth comfort me most in the world, that I find your lordship is contented with me, and that you will be my good lord and father the which, I trust, never to deserve other, but rather to give cause for the continuance of the same".

It is unknown whether it was Thomas Cromwell or Edward Seymour who had suggested the match, however, the marriage appears to have been a happy one and Elizabeth's brother and father-in-law were certainly on friendly terms.

Edward Seymour, then Viscount Beauchamp wrote to Cromwell on 2 September 1537, to know how he has fared since the writer's departure. Wishes Cromwell were with him, when he should have had the best sport with bow, hounds, and hawks and sends commendations to his brother-in-law and sister, adding "and I pray God to send me by them shortly a nephew."

Gregory and Elizabeth were to have five children:

Henry Cromwell, 2nd Baron Cromwell, (1538 - 1592), married before 1560, Mary Paulet, daughter of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester. The couple had three children:
Edward Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, (c. 1560 - 27 April 1607), married firstly, Elizabeth Umpton (died 1592/3), of Puslinch, Devon and secondly, Frances Rugge, (died 1631) of Felmingham, Norfolk, by whom he had a son, Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Ardglass and two daughters, Frances and Anne.
Sir Gregory Cromwell, married Frances, daughter of Sir Edward Griffin of Dingley, Northamptonshire.
Katharine Cromwell (c. 1562 - 24 March 1620), married on 10 February 1580/1581 at North Elmham, Norfolk, Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1st Baronet, of Helmingham, Suffolk on 22 May 1611 (14 December 1562 - bet. 1617 and 1621), son of Sir Lionel Tollemache and Susan Jermyn. They had a son, Sir Lionel Tollemache, 2nd Baronet.
Edward Cromwell (1539 - bef. 1553.)
Thomas Cromwell, (c. 1540 - died between February 1610 and April 1611), educated at St John's College, Cambridge. Married, August 1580, Katherine (died 1615/1616), daughter of Thomas Gardner of Coxford, 5 sons, 4 daughters.
Catherine (or Katherine) Cromwell, (c. 1541 - ) wife of Sir John Strode of Parnham, Dorset, son of Robert Strode and Elizabeth Hody, had six sons
Frances Cromwell, (c. 1544[103] - 7 February 1562) on 11 November 1560 at Compton, Hampshire, married Richard Strode of Newnham, Devon, son of William III Strode (1512-1579) by his wife Elizabeth Courtenay, daughter and heiress of Philip Courtenay of Loughtor, a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (died 1488) of Molland in North Devon. They had one son, William Strode (died 1637), MP

Peerage and knighthood
On 18 December 1540, less than five months after his father's execution, Gregory Cromwell was created Baron Cromwell of Oakham in the County of Rutland, by letters patent, and summoned to Parliament as a peer of the realm. This title was a new creation, rather than a restoration of his father's forfeited barony, and had a different territorial designation.

He was now Lord Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell (of Oakham in the County of Rutland) in his own right. When Thomas Cromwell was created Earl of Essex on 17 April 1540, his son, Gregory had assumed the courtesy title of Lord Cromwell from his father's secondary title, Lord Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell (of Wimbledon in the County of Surrey). Gregory Cromwell was never created Baron Cromwell (of Wimbledon in the County of Surrey) in his own right and only held the courtesy title for a few weeks until his father's arrest and subsequent attainder, when the title was forfeited.

Henry VIII granted Oakham to Thomas Cromwell in July 1538 under the old title of the castle, lordship and manor, yet the grant seems to have referred only to the manor of Oakham with certain judicial rights in the soke and not to the dependent manors and fees of the barony. In November 1538 the manor was settled on Gregory and his wife Elizabeth, to hold for their lives, with remainder to their son, Henry. In this way it escaped forfeiture at the time of Thomas Cromwell's attainder and execution, and was held by his descendants.

The arms Gregory adopted were those borne by his father when Earl of Essex; quarterly, per fess, indented, azure and or, four lions passant counterchanged and his motto, "Faire mon devoir".

The following February Gregory received a royal grant of lands that had been owned by his late father. The grant included the house and site of the former priory of Launde, in Launde and Loddington, Leicestershire and lands specified in Loddington, Tilton on the Hill, and Launde as well as "lands enclosed within the said site, called 'Whadborowgh' or 'Wateborogh', belonging to the late monastery of St. James near Northampton", and a water-mill in Launde, the manor of Loddington, parcel of the possessions of the said late priory and also the rectory and advowson of the vicarage of Loddington.

Launde Abbey in Leicestershire was to become the main family estate. It is a manor house built on the site of an Augustinian Priory founded in 1119. Thomas Cromwell had bought Launde Abbey for £1500 but did not live to take up residence. Gregory completed the building of the manor house on the site of the priory and lived there with his family from 1541 until his death in 1551.

Gregory Cromwell was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath at the coronation of King Edward VI, on 20 February 1547.

Later years
Gregory Cromwell managed to avoid the pitfalls of the Tudor nobility. He did not participate in court politics and for the last ten years of his life he combined managing his estates and shire administration with attendance in the House of Lords where he had an excellent attendance record.

He remained close to his cousin, Sir Richard Cromwell, his former preceptor Henry Dowes, Sir Ralph Sadler and William Cecil, who had been one of the Duke of Somerset's personal secretaries and Master of Requests in the Duke's household. Sir Richard Cromwell died only five years after Thomas Cromwell. Gregory Cromwell had become a very wealthy man, having accumulated vast amounts of land, in addition to the land given to him by his father when he came of age in 1538, through several royal grants.

In 1541, Gregory received a grant of property in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire of the "house and site, &c., of the late priory of Launde, in Launde and Lodyngton, Leic., and lands specified in Lodyngton, Tylton, and Launde; also lands enclosed within the said site, called "Whadborowgh" or "Wateborogh," belonging to the late monastery of St. James near Northampton, a water-mill in Launde, and the manor of Lodyngton, parcel of the possessions of the said late priory; also the rectory and advowson of the vicarage of Lodyngton."

In Rutland, Gregory held the castle and the Manor of Oakham, the Manor of Langham, two windmills, three other mills, sixty messuages, twenty cottages with their appurtenances in Oakham, Langham and Flitteris, of the King in Capite, by Knights Service in Fee. Also the Manor of Lyddington, and land belonging to the late chantry at Manton, with their appurtenances in Lyddington, Belton and Wardley, Stoke Dry, and Snelston, with the advowson of Wardley, of the King, by the rent of 14l 3 s 5 d ob. per annum for all services as appeared by Letters Patents granted by Edward VI. This last mentioned estate was for the lives of himself and Elizabeth his wife.

In addition, from 1538, he owned the manors of Clapthorne, Piddington and Hackleton in Northamptonshire as well as the manors of North Elmham and Beetley in Norfolk, and from 1545, held the lease of a moiety of the manor of Rompney in the lordship of Newport, South Wales in survivorship (formerly granted to his father.)

Gregory Cromwell's life may not have been very long, however, it was eventful. He lived through the last turbulent years of Henry VIII's reign, saw his queens and courtiers come and go, he survived the execution of his father, witnessed epidemics of plague and sweating sickness take away his friends and relations and lived through much political, social and religious upheaval. Although his exemption from attending the king in the war in France in 1544 might suggest illness or injury, he appears to have made a full recovery.

During his time in the House of Lords, he participated in several high-profile proceedings, notably the attainders of Catherine Howard on 8 February 1542, as well as Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, in January 1547. In 1547 he participated in the funeral of Henry VIII, as one of the lords carrying the canopy over the late king's coffin. On 28 February 1549 he was present in the House of Lords when the bill of attainder was passed on his wife's brother Thomas Seymour and again in January 1550 during proceedings against his brother-in-law and patron Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset.

Death and succession
Gregory Cromwell died suddenly on 4 July 1551 of the sweating sickness at his home, Launde Abbey, Leicestershire, and on 7 July 1551 was buried in a magnificent tomb in the chapel there. His wife Elizabeth was also ill but survived.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Henry's grandson, Thomas, 4th Baron Cromwell, later 1st Viscount Lecale, was created Earl of Ardglass in the Irish peerage on 15 April 1645. The Barony of Cromwell was held by the 1st Viscount Lecale from 22 November 1624 and by the Earls of Ardglass from 15 April 1645 until 26 November 1687, when, on the death of Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass and 7th Baron Cromwell, both titles became extinct.

Elizabeth Cromwell later married John Paulet, Lord St. John, eldest son of Sir William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, between 10 March and 24 April 1554. Her son, Henry Cromwell, married John Paulet's daughter, Mary Paulet, before 1560. Elizabeth died 19 March 1568, and was buried 5 April in St. Mary's Church, Basing, Hampshire.
SOURCE: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Cromwell,_1st_Baron_Cromwell

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