Robert Constable MP (abt. 1522 - bef. 1591)

Born about 1522 in Everingham, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Died before 12 Nov 1591 before about age 69 in London, England

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jo Fitz-Henry [send private message] and David Morley [send private message]

Biography

Robert was born about 1522 a younger son of Robert Constable and his wife, Katherine Manners.

By 1562 he was married to Christiana Dabridgecourt, daughter of John Dabridgecourt of Langdon Hall in Warwickshire and widow of Anthony Forster. Together they were the parents of an only son, Henry.

Robert was a soldier in the service of Thomas Radcliffe Earl of Sussex, during the peer's expedition against the northern rebels in 1570 at which time he was knighted. As Marshal of Berwick Castle he was harassed by want of money and even Burghley noted that Robert had beggared himself in the post: his efforts to get himself released were finally successful in 1578.

He first entered Parliament as MP for Nottinghamshire in 1584. One of the principal mourners at the funeral of Edward Manners, Earl of Rutland in 1587 he himself died in 1591 and was buried at Holy Trinity Minories on 12 November 1591.

The Robert Constable referred to in this Will is Sir Robert Constable MP for Newark, Nottinghamshire (c1522 - 1591). The History of Parliament gives his family as:^[1]

b. c.1522, 2nd s. of Sir Robert Constable of Everingham, Yorks. by Catherine, da. of George Manners, Lord Ros, sis. of Thomas, 1st Earl of Rutland. m. by 1562, Christiana, da. of John Dabridgecourt of Langdon Hall. Warws., wid. of Anthony Forster† of Newark, 1s.1 Kntd. 1570.

Inquisition and Will of Edward Earl of Rutland. Inquisition taken at the Guildhall, 3 July, 30 Eliz. [1588] ... Edward Earl of Rutland died in London 14 April, 29 Eliz. [1587] without issue male; Elizabeth now Lady Roosse is his daughter and sole heir, and was then aged 11 years, 3 months and 27 days: she still survives in London.

The said Isabella late the wife of the said Earl, the said Bridget now Countess of Bedford and formerly wife of the said Henry late Earl of Rutland father of the said Edward the late Earl, and the said Thomas Manners, knight, and Theodocia his wife still survive, viz., the said Isabella at London, the said Bridget at Cheyney, and the said Thomas and Theodocia at Nottingham.

I give to Sir Robert Constable, knight, the use of 2 closes which he now occupies, being parcel of the demesnes of the castle of Newark, called Apleton and the great close during my term therein without paying any rent for the same; also an annuity of £30 issuing out of the said demesnes.^{[2] [3]}

This is likely the Robert Constable knighted by Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, at Berwick, May 11th, 1570. The description of the Arms of the individual are the same in the Nottingham Visitation pedigree, as in Metcalfe's Book of Knights p.125. This Robert's cousin Sir Thomas Manners was knighted at the same ceremony.

Sources

• History of Parliament online [1]

1. ↑ Sir Robert Constable MP in: CONSTABLE, Sir Robert (c.1522-91), of the Spittal, Newark, Notts. and the Minories, London. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981. History of Parliament online Accessed 27 October 2020
2. ↑ London, England, Extractecd Church of England Parish Records: Jnder to Wills Proved and Administrations Granted in the Commissary Court of the manor of Evington, 1581-1800. London: - Inquisitiones Post Mortem, City of London, 1577-1603. Courtesy Ancestry.com, Provo, UT, 2001. Accessed 30 Aug 2018.
3. ↑ Will of Edward Earl of Rutland. Chan. Inq. p. m., vol. 218, No. 52. 'Inquisitions: 1588', in Abstracts of Inquisitiones Post Mortem For the City of London: Part 3, ed. E A Fry (London, 1908), pp. 105-128. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/abstract/no3/pp105-128 [accessed 27 October 2020].

• Hist. Parl.
• Wikipedia: Robert_Constable_(died_1591)
• Tudor Place, accessed 22 Nov 2013, archived at WayBack Machine.
• Marshall, George William. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the Years 1569 and 1614 (London, 1871) Page 40
• Clay, J.W: Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire, with Additions, Vol. 2 of 3, page 291, B.2. (Confused)
• Foster, Joseph: Yorkshire Pedigrees (1874), Vol. 3 of 3 (2 of 2) (N & E Riding), Constable of Flamborough. (Confused)

Metcalfe's book of knights p.125