Sir Henry Neville was a courtier, a scion of the aristocratic House of Neville, from the line of the Barons of Bergavenny. He was the second son of Sir Edward Neville, beheaded for treason 8 December 1538 on the orders of Henry VIII, who suspected that he was involved in the Exeter Conspiracy to take the throne and restore Catholic rule. However, Sir Edward's son Henry, a protestant and not yet of age, was not implicated in this matter and continued in the king's favor.[1] He was fortunately not closely enough related to the king to be considered a threat.
Courtier Henry Neville was appointed Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1546 and was a witness to the king's Will. After the 1547 accession of Edward VI, Henry was named Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1550, and master of the harriers 1552.[1] He was knighted by 1551.[2] He may have spent some time out of England during the reign of Mary I.
In 1551, Sir Henry Neville received a royal grant of the manors of Wargrave, Waltham St. Lawrence and Warfield in Berkshire. He settled at Billingbear at Waltham St. Lawrence and was henceforth styled as "of Billingbear."[3] After the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, his activities focused primarily on Berkshire and not the court, although he was appointed head of the guard of the Duke of Norfolk while he was imprisoned in the Tower 1569-70.[1]
He represented Berkshire as MP in the Parliaments of 1559, 1563, 1571 and 1584. He may also have been elected in 1553, before the accession of Mary I. He was Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire from 1559 and Sheriff 1572, High Steward of Windsor.[1]
Sir Henry Neville married three times:[1]
The marriage produced four sons and two daughters:
There may have been an elder daughter Elizabeth who died young, represented on the funeral monument of her parents and grandmother.[7] Two other sons, William and Francis, are mentioned in his Will.[8]
Note:A daughter Anne Neville, previously listed as a child of Henry and Elizabeth, has been detached, as there was no evidence linking her to this family,
Sir Henry Neville died at BIllingbear 13 January 1593 and was buried in the parish church of Waltham St. Lawrence, where a monument shows him, his second wife Elizabeth Gresham, and her mother Frances, possibly also a daughter Elizabeth.[7]
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