William Shelley M.P. (abt. 1479 - 1549)

Born about 1479 in Michelgrove, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 4 Jan 1549 at about age 70 in Clapham, Sussex, England

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Biography

Sir William Shelley, born about 1479, [said to be aged 48 in 1527] was the eldest son of John Shelley and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and heir of John Michelgrove alias Falconer of Michelgrove. ^{[1] [2]}

Sir William Shelley succeeded at Michelgrove in 1527 and bought Clapham manor in the same year. Thereafter the two manors descended together, Michelgrove eventually becoming absorbed in Clapham. Sir William found favour with Henry VIII and was made a Judge of Common Pleas and recorder of London. His brothers Edward and Richard founded the Warminghurst and Patcham branches of the family. Sir William was succeeded in 1549 by his son John.^[3]

Before 1508 he married Alice the daughter and co-heir of Henry Belknap of Knelle Manor, Beckley, Sussex. They had 7 sons and 7 daughters.^[2] The marriage settlement is dated 10 July 1511. ^[1]

Sir William Shelley, Justice of the Common Pleas, also died seised of the manor of West Mapledurham in Hampshire in 1548. By his Will dated 6 November, 1548, he left this manor and all lands in Hampshire which he had purchased of Sir John Roger to his [second]] son Thomas, a recusant, in tail male. By an Inquisition (IPM) taken at Winchester 2 October, 1570, it was ascertained that Thomas Shelley, late of Mapledurham, had been a fugitive in foreign parts beyond the seas since 1 December, 1558, and was then living in Louvain, and that before his departure he had granted a twelve years' lease of all his lands and tenements in Mapledurham to Thomas Goldforde and John Jervys. Thomas died seised of the manor in 1577, his heir being his son Henry, aged thirty-eight, whose name occurs five years later in a list of the prisoners for religion in the custody of Anthony Thorpe "keeper of the Whyte Lyon in Southwarke". At this time the manor house was the refuge of numerous priests, who were always sure to find a welcome, a place to say their Mass, and if necessary a secure hiding-place; and there are many references to it in the correspondence of the time.^[4]

Children

William and Alice had seven daughters:

Elizabeth Shelley: married to Sir Roger Copley.^[2]

Catherine Shelley: married Henry Browne of Betchworth Castle, Surrey.^[2]

William and Alice had seven sons:

John Shelley, Esq.: married Mary Fitzwilliam.^[2]

Sir Richard Shelley: elected to Parliament 1555. Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem 1557. ^[5][2]

Sir James Shelley: "a distinguished and widely travelled" Knight of St. John ^[6]

Sir Edward Shelley: "a master of the household of Henry VIII, treasurer of the council of the north, and captain of Berwick, and was killed at the battle of Pinkie on 10 September 1547." ^[7]

Thomas Shelley: married to Mary Copley, Sir Roger's sister.^[2]

Offices Held

• 1517: he was autumn reader in the Inner Temple
• 1518: Lent reader of the Inner Temple
• June: 1514 - 1520: under sheriff of London
• 1520: Recorder of London
• 1521: Serjeant-at-law (aka 'degree of the coif')
• 1523: elected by London to Parliament
• 1529: Sir William was knighted after 3 Nov 1529 ^[2]
• 1526 - 1549: Justice of the Common Pleas (see image by Rowlandson)

William lived in the parish of St Sepulchre when he was in London until his father died. After his father died in January, 1527, William, the oldest son, inherited his father's considerable estates in Hertfordshire, Kent and Sussex.^[2] He took up residence at Michelgrove, in the parish of Clapham, which he renovated, and where he entertained Henry VIII. He "bought Clapham manor in the same year. Thereafter the two manors descended together, Michelgrove eventually becoming absorbed in Clapham."^[8]

Career in Government and Law

Recorder of London: When William Shelley was made Recorder of London, the retiring recorder, Anthony Fitzherbert, described him as ‘a gentleman of good conscience and well learned in the law of the land’. ^[2]

Sergeant at Law: Sir William Shelley was appointed by King Henry VIII to the office of Sergeant at Law in 1521. "The order rose during the 16th century as a small, elite group of lawyers who took much of the work in the central common law courts." ^[9]

Judge of Common Pleas "Sir William found favour with Henry VIII and was made a judge of Common Pleas and recorder of London."^[8] William was knighted by King Henry VIII of England in 1529.^[2] He accompanied his King to France where at the siege of Boulogne he "lent it [£100] to our said late sovereign lord".^[2]

Religion

He was a Catholic.^[2] At that time in England, Catholics were called "recusants" and were punished under the law. The Shelley family didn't suffer persecution because William had the favor of the king, and William's religion was ignored.

When William Shelley was born, England was a Catholic country, and the Pope in Rome was the head of the church. When a later king, Henry VIII, beginning in 1532, began breaking off from Rome and establishing an English church with the king as the head of the church instead of the pope, William was already serving his king on the Court of Common Pleas. Although the measures taken against citizens who remained Catholic became more and more severe, the Shelley family prospered because of William's favor with King Henry.

Death and Legacy

His will was dated 6 November 1548, when only four of his sons were still alive.^[2] John was his heir and William left the manor of Mapledurham and other Hampshire lands to Thomas, £20 a year to Richard and 100 marks to James.^[2] His daughter Elizabeth was to be his executor if his son John died.^[2] He died on 4 January, 1549.^[2] William was over seventy years old when he died, after a long life of service to his country.

A tomb in Clapham St. Mary's commemorates him, his wife and their 14 children.^[2] The monument is located on the north side of the chancel. "William Shelley (d1548/9), a judge, who is shown in his robes and hood of office. He kneels with his wife and 14 children in a recess showing Renaissance influence. One of the daughters is shown as a nun, suggesting that the monument was commissioned before the Dissolution (i e before 1539)."^[10] Other tombs in the church belong to his son John and his family.

Definitions

Justice of the Common Pleas: a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" pleas (civil matters between subject and subject).

Puisne: A puisne judge or puisne justice (/ˈpjuːni/; "junior") is a regular member of a court other than the court's chief judge or chief justice, or any ex officio member of the court. defintion from Wikipedia

Birth

Sir William Shelley in the Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22

Name:Sir William Shelley

Birth Date:1480

Death Date:1549

Father's name:Sir John Shelley

Mother's name:Elizabeth De Michelgrove

Death

Name:Sir William Shelley

Death Date: 5 Jan 1549

Cemetery:Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

Burial or Cremation Place: Clapham, Arun District, West Sussex, England

William Shelley in the Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 Name: William Shelley Gender: m (Male) Birth Date: 1480 Birth Place: Clapham, Sussex, England Death Date: 10 mei 1549 (10 May 1549) Death Place: Sussex, England Death Age: 69 Spouse: Alice Belknap Children: John Shelley URL: https://www.genealogieonline.nl

Sir William Shelley in the Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 Name: Sir William Shelley Birth Date: 1480 Death Date: 1549 Father: Sir John Shelley Mother: Elizabeth De Michelgrove Source Citation London, England: Oxford University Press; Volume: Vol 18; Page: 41 Source Information Ancestry.com. Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol IV, page 142ii
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17} Helen Miller, SHELLEY, William (by 1479-1549), of London and Michelgrove, Suss., The History of Parliament: British Political, Social & Local History, Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2014, ( 1964-2014), accessed 15 May 2014, The History of Parliament .
3. ↑ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol6/pt1/pp10-21
4. ↑ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol3/pp85-93
5. ↑ History of Parliament - Richard Shelley
6. ↑ Sir William Shelley - Wikipedia
7. ↑ Sir William Shelley - Wikipedia
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} T P Hudson (Editor), A P Baggs, C R J Currie, C R Elrington, S M Keeling, A M Rowland. "Clapham." A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1: Bramber Rape (Southern Part) (1980): 10-21. British History Online. Web. 31 August 2014. <British History Online>
9. ↑ Sergeant at Law, database online, (accessed 9 Dec 2015), Wikipedia
10. ↑ John Allen, Clapham - St Mary, (2008), accessed 31 August 2014, Sussex Parish Churches.

• Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. V. page 92

See also:

• Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, (2011), Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), volume I, page 86-87, Thomas de Clare.

• History of Parliament - Richard Shelley, The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982; Author: S. R. Johnson

• Sir William Shelley, database online, (accessed 3 March 2015), Wikipedia, Creative Commons Share Alike license

• Sergeant at Law, database online, (accessed 9 Dec 2015), Wikipedia, Creative Commons Share Alike license

• Rights of Audience, database online, (accessed 9 Dec 2015), Wikipedia, Creative Commons Share Alike license

• Visitation of Hampshire Page 7: Shelley

• Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, pp 37, Shelley & 111, Copley.