William Paulet KG PC (abt. 1475 - 1572)

Born about 1475 in Fisherton Delamere, Wiltshire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 10 Mar 1572 at about age 97 in Basing House, Hampshire, England

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Biography

William Paulet KG PC is Notable.

William Paulet was the eldest son of Sir John Paulet of Basing Castle in Hampshire and Nunney Castle in Somerset, and his wife, Alice Paulet. Neither the date nor the place of his birth are known with any certainty. ^[1] A memorial poem written by follower Rowland Broughton shortly after his death names his birthplace as Fisherton Delamare in Wiltshire. ^[2] The statement that he lived to be 97 years old suggests a date of birth about 1475. History of Parliament dates his birth as before 1488 without comment. ^[3]Burke as cited by Thepeerage.com gives a date of 1483. ^[4] His parents were distant cousins, both being descended from John Paulet and his wife, Elizabeth Creedy.

William had six siblings, including Sir George Paulet of Crondall Manor in Hampshire and Eleanor Paulet (born 1479), wife of William Giffard of Itchell Manor at Ewshot, also in Hampshire.

About 1509 he married Elizabeth Capel, daughter of Sir William Capell Lord Mayor of London, and his wife, Margaret Arundell. ^{[5] [4]} They had 4 sons and 4 daughters.^{[3] [6]}

He succeeded his father on the 5th of January 1525 which was about the time that he was knighted.^[3] William's political career began in 1529, when he was returned to Parliament as knight of the shire for Hampshire together with Sir Richard Sandys. ^{[7] [3]} Many and varied were the roles he performed during his long career, ^[8] staying close to the seat of power, but never close enough to find his life under threat. As Comptroller of the King's household he was in Calais with the King in 1532 ^[9] and the following year with the Duke of Norfolk. ^[10]

In 1535 and 1536, he served as one of the judges for the trials of John Fisher, Sir Thomas More, and the alleged accomplices of Anne Boleyn ^[11] In 1536 he was granted Sir Thomas More's house in Chelsea ^[3] and also Netley Abbey with the Manor of Hound in Hampshire. ^[12] He was elevated to the peerage as Baron St. John on 9 March 1539. ^[3]

Netley Abbey

In 1543 he was made the 311th Knight of the Garter. ^[13] In 1545 he was instructed by the King to build a fort in the grounds of Netley Abbey practically on the shore, to protect Southampton water. When built it was known as Netley Castle. ^[14] He had been close to Henry VIII, supporting him through the King's Great Matter and the reformation and a grateful King in his will left him £500 and appointed him one of the 16 members of the Regency council set up for the young Edward VI.^[1] Apparently a man of no firm religious convictions he moved smoothly into the new reign yet avoided the perils when Somerset and Dudley fell out. On the 19th of January 1550 he was created Earl of Wiltshire and Marquess of Winchester the following year,^[3] serving as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Duke of Somerset.^[8]

William almost came to grief after the death of Edward VI being one of those who signed the document settling the crown on Lady Jane Grey and delivering to her the Crown Jewels on the 12th of July 1553 but soon gave his support to Mary being one of those who proclaimed her on the 19th.^{[15] [1]} At first an opponent of the marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain he quickly came to accept it and, indeed, entertained the Royal couple at Basing the day after their wedding at Winchester. ^[11] In 1558 with the accession of Elizabeth he once again accepted the changes easily and continued as before, while mourning the death of Elizabeth Paulet on Christmas Day that year. However in 1566 the Queen dismissed him as Speaker of the House of Lords on account of the decline in his memory and hearing.^[1] He was an old man, somewhere between 78 and 91 depending on when he was born, and retired from Court in 1570.

William died at Basing House on the 10th of March 1572,^[8] as a cloud fell over his reputation due to financial irregularities over the Royal accounts. ^[1] His tomb is on the south side of the chancel of St Mary's Church in Old Basing.^[16]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Paulet, William, first marquess of Winchester (1474/5?–1572) L. L. Ford
2. ↑ Mike Pincombe, abstract of Rowland Broughton's The Life and Death of Sir William Paulet, online at hrionline.ac.uk, accessed 13 November 2010
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Alan Davidson, "PAULET, Sir William (by 1488–1572), of Basing and Netley, Hants, Chelsea, Mdx. and London." The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509–1558 (1982). The History of Parliament: British Political, Social & Local History (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/paulet-sir-william-1488-1572 : accessed 3 February, 2023).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Thepeerage.com: William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester Cites: Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999
5. ↑ Visitation of Hertfordshire Page 113: Capell of Little Hadham
6. ↑ "Winchester, Marquess of (E, 1551). Cracroft's Peerage". Cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
7. ↑ History of Parliament online 1509-1558: Hampshire
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Wikipedia: William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester.
9. ↑ The Chronicles of Calais Page 42
10. ↑ The Chronicles of Calais Page 44
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Tait, James (1895). "Paulet, William (1485?-1572)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 92–94
12. ↑ British History online: Houses of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Netley
13. ↑ Wikipedia: List of Knights and Ladies of the Garter
14. ↑ British History online: Hound with Netley
15. ↑ Cokayne, G. E. (1898). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, vol. VIII. Exeter: William Pollard. pp. 171–173. Winchester
16. ↑ British History online: Old Basing

See also:

• "Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2013
• Dr Alan Bryson, The Legal Quays: Sir William Paulet, First Marquis of Winchester (Gresham College lecture, 2008), online at gresham.ac.uk: "Winchester may have been born at Fisherton-Delamare in Wiltshire..."
• J. D. Alsop, William Paulet, First Marquis of Winchester: A Question of Age (1987): "So when, and where, was William Paulet born? The family tradition that the event took place at Fisherton de la Mere in Wiltshire..."
• Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London (J.B. Nichols and Son, for The Society of Antiquaries, Somerset House, London, 1849-) Vol. 1, Page 47