Charles Manners (abt. 1572 - 1627)

Born about 1 Mar 1572 in Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elsabeth Lundon — married 9 Aug 1590 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Descendants

Died 23 Apr 1627 at about age 55 in Calne, Wiltshire, England

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Biography

Charles Manners was born about 1572, son of Thomas Manners and his wife, Theodosia Newton. ^[1]

Marriages

Elsabeth Lundon married 9 Aug 1590 in St Edmund's, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Margaret Lee, Abt, 1607 daughter of Thomas Lee and his wife, Elizabeth Peppard.^[1]

45. Sir Charles Manners to Sir M. Hicks; to get Lord Salisbury to procure his uncle's Roger Manners forgiveness for marrying against his consent, Oct. 18, 1607

Reference of marriage to Margaret Lee.

Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts. British Museum Dept. of Manuscripts British Museum. Georg Olms Verlag. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100931512

Knighthood

Sir Charles Manners was the only son of Sir Thomas Manners, fourth son of Thomas Earl of Rutland, by Theodosia, daughter of Sir John Newton, of Barrs Court. Sir Charles was knighted by Essex (Robert Devereux KG) in Ireland, 5th August, 1599

Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, has been almost universally derided by scholars for the number of knights he dubbed during his expedition to Ireland in 1599. This derision takes its cue from well-known sources of the period. In one of his famous series of letters to Dudley Carleton, John Chamberlain mockingly reported that ‘the earle of Essex hath made many new knights, but I cannot yet come by the beadrolle’. Chamberlain was shocked that Essex had so far made fifty-nine new knights in Ireland: ‘yt is much marvayled that this humor shold so possess him that, not content with his first dosens and scores, he shold thus fall to huddle them up by halfe hundreds…yf he continue this course, he will shortly bring in tag and rag, cut and longe tayle, and so draw the order into contempt’. Another oft-quoted source is the spy William Udall, who claimed that Essex had made ‘so many unwoorthy knights, which is jested at in Ireland, and sayed that he made more knights then he killed rebells’. More significantly, this tone of scorn for Essex’s creation of new knights was echoed in furious letters and orders emanating from the queen herself. After Essex’s unexpected return from Ireland at the end of September and subsequent arrest, Elizabeth’s anger remained unabated. In October, she ordered that a statement of the earl’s ‘contempts’ be drawn up, including ‘that he had knighted many, contrary to her pleasure’. Although Essex’s ill health and uncertainty about how to deal with him delayed affairs for months, these ‘contempts’ finally featured as charges against him in an informal trial in early June 1600. However, the queen remained ‘very vehement’ to undo his actions. On 25 June, she even signed a proclamation stripping thirty-eight named gentlemen of the knighthoods which Essex had given them in August and September 1599. Although the queen’s initiative was supported by legal advice from Francis Bacon, it was soon clear that she was entering a legal and political minefield. One of those who stood to lose his distinction, Sir John Harington, likened knighthood to ‘babtisme…[as] a marke of Christianitye’ and argued that it was equally impossible to revoke: ‘soche vertue hath water and the word in the sacrament of owr sowles, soch forse hath the royall sword and the word for the sacred dignitye of knighthood’.

Suspected Recusancy

Calendar of State Papers, Domestic. Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, and James I by Great Britain. Public Record Office.

Page 208 108. 109. Memoranda relating to certain recusants convicted, suspected, or sought for by the constable ; amongst them, Sir Chas. and Lady Manners, Sir Wm. and Lady Berwick, Lady Heneage, Sir Wm. Elvis, Sir Robt. Brook

Date of Memorandum 1620

The Domestic Papers of 1619-1623 contains a memorandum relating to certain recusants convicted, suspected, or sought for by the constable, amongst them Sir Charles and Lady Manners. In England there were three main religious groups, the Roman Catholics, not recognised but still quite numerous; then the greater bulk of the population the Church of England with King James I as its head; thirdly the Puritans who were trying to reform the Church to make it less like the Church of Rome. Sir Charles and Lady Manners were most likely Protestants as were the earlier Manners family.

In the history of England and Wales, recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants". The term, which derives ultimately from the Latin recusare (to refuse or make an objection), was first used to refer to those who remained within the Roman Catholic Church and did not attend services of the Church of England, with a 1593 statute determining the penalties against "Popish recusants".

The "Recusancy Acts", which began during the reign of Elizabeth I and which were repealed in 1650, imposed a number of punishments on those who did not participate in Anglican religious activity, including fines, property confiscation, and imprisonment. Despite their repeal, restrictions against Roman Catholics were still in place until full Catholic Emancipation in 1829. In some cases those adhering to Catholicism faced capital punishment, and a number of English and Welsh Catholics executed in the 16th and 17th centuries have been canonised by the Catholic Church as Christian martyrs. The Popish Recusants Act 1592 (35 Eliz. I, c. 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act forbade Roman Catholic recusants from moving more than five miles from their house or otherwise they would forfeit all their property.

The Popish Recusants Act 1605 (3 Jac.1, c. 4) was an Act of the Parliament of England which quickly followed the Gunpowder Plot of the same year, an attempt by English Roman Catholics to assassinate King James I and many of the Parliament.

The Act forbade Roman Catholics from practising the professions of law and medicine and from acting as a guardian or trustee; and it allowed magistrates to search their houses for arms. The Act also provided a new oath of allegiance, which denied the power of the Pope to depose monarchs. The recusant was to be fined £60 or to forfeit two-thirds of his land if he did not receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at least once a year in his Church of England parish church.

The Act also made it high treason to obey the authority of Rome rather than the King.

Charles died 23 Apr 1627 in Calne, Wiltshire, England

Reference

Letters of Sir Robert Cecil to Sir George Carew Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2010 Abstract: page 78 note a https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/camden-old-series/article/abs/letters-of-sir-robert-cecil-to-sir-george-carew/75BF5DB53D60C8A2CB85DBDDC4B626F4

Hammer, P.E.. (2014). Base rogues and ‘gentlemen of quality’ the earl of essex’s irish knights and royal displeasure in 1599. 10.1017/CBO9781139644068.009.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298705944_Base_rogues_and_%27gentlemen_of_quality%27_the_earl_of_essex%27s_irish_knights_and_royal_displeasure_in_1599

Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1619-23 https://archive.org/details/1967calendarofstatep10greauoft/page/208/mode/2up

^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Thomas Lee (army Captain)
2. ↑ Marriage: "Wiltshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812"
   Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre; Chippenham, Wiltshire, England; Wiltshire Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: 1901/1
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 61187 #2396367 (accessed 24 May 2022)
   Charylls Manhoade marriage to Elsabeth Lundon on 9 Aug 1590 in Salisbury, St Edmund, Wiltshire, England.
3. ↑ Burial: "London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812"
   London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/AND2/A/010/MS06673/002
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1624 #5221423 (accessed 24 May 2022)
   Thomas Manners burial (died on Abt 1627) on 23 Nov 1627 in St Andrew, Holborn, Camden, London, England.
4. ↑ Child Baptism: "Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812"
   City of Westminster Archives Centre; London, England; Westminster Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: SML/PR/1/1
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 61865 #150150666 (accessed 24 May 2022)
   Sr Charles Mannrs's child Verna Mannrs baptism on 16 Mar 1607 in St Mary Le Strand, London, Westminster, England.
5. ↑ Probate: "UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975"
   Ancestry Record 1610 #595061 (accessed 21 November 2021)
   Manners, Thomas Sir Charles Manners, knight probate.