Edward Unton MP (abt. 1556 - 1589)

Born about 1556 in Berkshire, England

Ancestors

Died 27 Jun 1589 at about age 33 in Plymouth, Devon, England

Biography

Edward Unton MP is Notable.

Edward was born about 1556 the son and heir of Sir Edward Unton and his wife, Anne Seymour, formerly wife of John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. ^[1][2] Anne was unstable and by 1566 was declared a lunatic enjoying brief intervals of lucidity. ^[3]

Educated at Oriel College, Oxford Edward obtained a BA in 1573. ^[1]

He married firstly Dorothy Knightley, daughter of Sir Richard Knightley of Fawsley in Northamptonshire and his wife, Mary Fermor. In 1579, after Dorothy’s death without children, he married in 1579 Catherine Hastings, daughter of George Hastings and his wife, Dorothy Port.^[1] Again there were no children. ^[1]

Edward was not present at his father's funeral on 6 December 1582 ^[4] for at around the time of his father’s death Edward journeyed to Italy where he fell into the hands of the Inquisition. Fortunately he had powerful friends. The Earl of Leicester had been his mother’s brother-in-law and threatened reprisals against the Spanish Ambassador. Edward’s younger brother, Henry, travelled to Italy to arrange a ransom and Edward returned to England in 1584, depressed and ill and owing 10,000 crowns for his ransom. ^[1]

Nevertheless he was returned to Parliament as a Member for Berkshire in 1584 and again in 1586, but contributed little to business. He had to sell off land to repay his ransom and in 1587 went to Ireland in the hope of repairing his fortune in the colonization of Munster but was recalled at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588. He went on the Portugal expedition led by Sir John Norris but returned to England in poor health and died at Plymouth on 27 June 1589. His heir to what was left of his fortune was his brother, Henry. ^[1]

Research notes

Find-a-grave suggests that he died at Faringdon and was buried at All Saints. There is no mention of him in All Saints Church. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} History of Parliament online 1558-1603: UNTON, Edward (c.1556-89), of Wadley, Berks. and Langley, Oxon, her husband
2. ↑ The Four Visitations of Berkshire Page 222: Unton
3. ↑ David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History: Anne Seymour, Countess of Warwick (1538-1588)
4. ↑ Unton Inventories
5. ↑ Visit on 22 July 2017

See also

• Berkshire history Colonel Edward Unton

• Edward Unton at Wikipedia

• British History online: Parishes: Stokenchurch