Michael Locke (abt. 1532 - 1617)

Born about 1532 in London, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 Jul 1617 at about age 85 in Westminster, London, England [uncertain]

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Biography

Michael Lok (c1532-c1621), mercer, son of William Locke and Katherine Cook, was the youngest of the five sons of his father's second marriage. He was born in London, England about 1532. Michael married first, about 1562, Joan (d. 1571), daughter of Sir William Wilkinson, sheriff of London, by whom he had eight surviving children. He married second, about 1576, Margery (d. c1582), nee Perin, widow of Cesar Adelmare. Michel's son Benjamin was with him in Ireland in 1587. His eldest sons, Zachary, Benjamin and Matthew predeceased him, all leaving wills.^[1][2][3]

From the Wikipedia entry for Michael Lok:

He married, secondly, Mary (or Margaret), daughter of Martin Perient, treasurer to the army in Ireland, widow of Cæsar Adelmare (d. 1569), and mother of Julius Cæsar [q. v.] the judge. In 1579 Lok described himself, in his petitions, as having a wife and fifteen children. An essay, ‘An conveniens sit Matrimonium inter Puellam et Senem’ (Add. MS. 12503), which he wrote in 1583, might be thought to imply that he was meditating a third marriage in his old age.^[3]

Lok was well-travelled from an early age. In the course of his travels he met Martin Frobisher, and in 1576 entered into a plan for a voyage in search of the Northwest passage, supplying many of the necessaries at his own cost. The venture, however, entirely failed, and in January 1579 Lok had to petition the privy council for relief. In June 1581 he was again petitioning the privy council, from the Fleet Prison, condemned at the suit of William Borough to pay for a ship bought for Frobisher's last voyage, though he claimed the debt was not his. In 1614–15 he was still being sued for a debt for stores supplied to Frobisher's ships.^[3]

Parents and Siblings

Sir William Locke (1486-1550), Son of Thomas Lock and Joan Wilcock

William Locke

Sir William Locke, Knight, Alderman of London, was born about 1486, as he was admitted to the freedom of London at the end of his apprenticeship in 1507. Although formally admitted to the company only in 1507, Lok was already supplying clothes of gold and silver to the king in that year. He succeeded to his father's business and estate, and became an eminent tradesman and citizen. He received the royal appointment of Mercer to King Henry VIII, with whom he was an especial favorite, having a key to the King's Private Chamber, and occasionally entertaining him at dinner at his house in London. There are records in existence showing materials furnished by him to the royal household, including Queen Anna Boleyn and the Princess, afterwards Queen, Elizabeth, as also Will Somers, the King's Jester. After being several years an Alderman, he was elected Sheriff of London in 1548, and was knighted on the 3 d of October in that year, but died before it was his turn to become Lord Mayor.

The " Visitation of the County of Cornwall" says, in a note on p. 50, that Sir William Locke was " Mercer of London, and Receiver General of the Duchy of Cornwall."

In the 25th year of Henry VIII, Lok "undertook to go over to Dunkirk, and pull down the pope's bull which had been there posted up by way of a curse to the king and kingdom. For this exploit the king granted him a freehold of £100 per annum, dubbed him knight, and made him one of the gentlemen of his privy-chamber" (Book of the Lockes). The crest— "A hand ppr. holding tip a cushion Or" —given by Burke to Lock of London, with the shield described by Col. Chester, probably symbolizes this exploit as an upholding of the Protestant pulpit.

Sir William Locke was employed by Henry VIII, having the charge of his commercial affairs 'both at home and abroad.' In the Cottonian Library, London, are several manuscript letters from him to the King, and to Secretary Cromwell, dated at Antwerp in 1533-34 relating to some “works carrying on at Calais, concerning negotiations with France and about the woolen trade." He was, says Collins, "particularly employed by Queen Anne Bullen privately to gather the Epistles, Gospels and Psalms, from beyond sea, in which he ran great hazard, some having been secretly made away with for attempting the same thing." (Book of the Lockes).

In Mercers' Chapel, Cheapside, London, there was "a monument to Sir William Locke, with his arms in the window." The church " was destroyed in the great fire of 1666." (Book of the Lockes).

William Lok had a strong Lutheran conviction — his first wife, Alice, one of England's first converts to that doctrine, made him a willing servant of the early architects of the English Reformation.

Lok was married four times:

1. Alice Spence or Elizabeth Spencer (d. 1522), daughter and heir of Mr. Spencer, a citizen and fishmonger of London, buried at Mercer's Chapel, London

2. Katherine Cooke (d. 14 Oct 1537), daughter of William, and sister and co-heir of Sir Thomas Cook, of Wiltshire, knight

3. Eleanor Marsh (d. 1546), widow of Walter Marshe

4. Elizabeth Meredith (d. 1551), widow of Robert Meredith

Sir William Locke died 24 August 1550 and was buried on the 27th at Mercers' Chapel, St. Thomas Of Acres, with his parents and his first and fourth wives (the latter after her death the following year); he bore arms, which were displayed in a window in the chapel.^[1]

Children of Sir William Lok ^[1][2]

See also British History Online: St. Mary le Bow 104/23, where Sir William Lock's sons Thomas, Matthew, John, Henry, and Michael Lock are mentioned in the disposition of Sir William's property following his death in 1550.^[4]

Sir William Lok fathered nineteen children, of whom twelve, five sons and seven daughters from his first two marriages, survived into adulthood. His children included Rose Throckmorton, Michael Lok and Henry, father of the poet Henry Lok, all children of Katherine Cooke, and from his first marriage daughters Elizabeth (who married Nicholas Bullingham, later bishop of Lincoln and Worcester) and Jane, whose own three daughters all married members of the common council.

1. Rose Lok (26 Dec 1526 - 21 Nov 1613) "the third of eleven children of Sir William Lok, great-great-great grandfather of the philosopher John Locke" by his second wife, Katherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Cook of Wiltshire; married firstly 28 Nov 1543 Anthony Hickman (d. 1573) by whom she had at least two children; he was a business partner of her brother Thomas Locke; married secondly Simon Throckmorton (d. 1585) of Brampton; she had a sister-in-law, Anne Locke, and another, Mary Locke, wife of Thomas.
2. Henry Lok, mercer of London (d. 1571), married Anne Vaughan, daughter of Stephen Vaughan, merchant adventurer (d. 1549); she was noted as a religious activist and translator, prominent in the early Protestant movement in London. Her children by Lok included Henry, the poet, and Anne (d. 1557 in Geneva). She married secondly Edward Dering, and thirdly Richard Prowse, MP, of Exeter.

According to the records from a court case which occurred after his death, Michael died on 28 July 1617. The case, arising from a dispute over property in Tottenham, cites Colan Bluet, Michael Sampson and Elizabeth Jenny, defendants in the case, as heirs of Michael Lock ^[5][6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Rose Throckmorton (1526-1613): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67979 Lowe, Ben. Throckmorton (née Lok; other married name Hickman), Rose (1526-1613). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Sept 2004. Online edn, Oct 2006. : accessed 18 Mar 2007. Subscription required.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} ssoc.genealogy.medieval Sir William LOK (LOCK) - Alderman of London - 16th C : accessed 23 Feb 2018.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Wikipedia Michael Lok : accessed 30 Aug 2018.
4. ↑ British History Online: St. Mary le Bow 104/23 St. Mary Le Bow : accessed 28 Jul 2018.
5. ↑ The English Reports, vol 123, 1912. p 1253. Thomas Muschamp, knight, and Margaret his wife and Thomas Lock against Colan Bluet, Michael Sampson, Edward Jenny and Elizabeth his wife, Michaelmas 15 Jacob. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_English_Reports/jJUaAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22michael+lock%22&pg=PA1254&printsec=frontcover
6. ↑ The National Archives Catalogue. Court of Chancery: Six Clerks Office: Pleadings, Series I, Elizabeth I to Charles I. C 2/JasI/B31/21. Blewett v Muschamp, 1603-1624. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5714536

• Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lok
• Old edition of Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lok,_Michael_(DNB00)

Acknowledgements

• Researched by Sara V Mosher
• This person was created on 15 January 2011 through the import of Turner_2011-01-14.ged.
• WikiTree profile Locke-752 created through the import of RodneyTree12232012.ged on Dec 23, 2012 by Rodney Gross. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Rodney and others.