Henry Pratt Bt (abt. 1572 - 1647)

Born about 1572 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Adams) Pratt — married 27 Nov 1600 in St Clements, Eastcheap, London, England

Descendants

Died 6 Apr 1647 at about age 75 in London, England

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Notice: Henry (previous versions of this profile included a middle name "Lewis" - middle names were not used in England in that era) Pratt and his wives have been previously attached as the father of Joshua Pratt and likely brother Phineas Pratt without citing a reliable source. They have been detached. If a reliable source is found, please communicate with profile managers, thank you.

Biography

Early life

Henry Pratt was most likely the son of Henry Pratt, clothier, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, ^{[1][2] [3]} although some sources describe him as a younger son of a Pratt of Ryston, Norfolk. ^{[4] [5]}

He was apprenticed to Anthony Baker, merchant taylor of London, on 8 December 1587. ^{[1] [3]} and took up his Freedom of the Company of Merchant Taylors on 24 November 1595. ^{[6] [3]}

He became a draper with premises in the churchyard of the old St Paul's Cathedral. ^[6]

Marriage and children

Henry Pratt (of the parish of St Gregory and St Paul) married Mary Adams of the parish of St Clements East Cheap by licence on 27 November 1600 at St Clements. ^[7] She was the daughter of Thomas Adams of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. ^{[8] [1]}

Henry and Mary continued to live in the parish of St Gregory by St Paul and had the following children baptised at this church. (The register survived the Great Fire of London 1666 and is digitised on Ancestry.)

1. George baptised 16 June 1605 George sonne of Henrye Pratte baptised 16 June ^[9] George inherited the Baronetage of Coleshill upon the death of his father in 1647.
2. Elizabeth baptised 3 May 1607 Elizabeth daughter of Henry Pratte Baptized 3 May 1607 ^[10] Elizabeth married four times and two of her sons were mentioned in Henry's will.
3. Henry No baptism found but he was probably born in the period between his parents' marriage in 1600 and the birth of son George in 1605. He was buried 16 May 1608, two months before the baptism of the next child Richard. Henry the sonne of Henry Pratt Buried 16 May 1608 ^[11]
4. Richard baptised 10 July 1608 at St Gregory by St Paul, two months after the burial of older brother Henry. There is a possibility that Henry and Richard were twins, which would explain the lack of a baptism for Henry if he died shortly after birth. There is no mention in the baptismal register that Richard was one of twins. Richard the sonne of Henry Pratt Baptized 10 July 1608 ^[12] Richard was still alive at the time his father wrote his will, but was left a token legacy.
5. William baptised 5 November 1609 at St Gregory by St Paul. William sonne of Henry Pratt Baptized 5 November 1609 ^[13]
6. Abraham baptised 21 July 1611 at St Gregory by St Paul Abraham sonne of Henry Pratt Baptized 21 July 1611 ^[14]
7. Dorothie baptised 17 October 1613 at St Gregory by St Paul. Dorothie daughter of Henry Pratt Baptized 17 October 1613 ^[15] Dorothie died at the age of 4 months and was buried in the churchyard on 24 January 1613/4 Dorothie daughter of Henry Pratt Buried 24 January 1613 ^[16]
8. Amie baptised on 28 February 1616 at St Gregory by St Paul Amie daughter of Henry Pratte Baptized 28 ffebruary 1616 ^[17] Amie (Amy) died at the age of 21 unmarried, living at her father's home at Silver Street in the parish of St Olave. Amy Pratt daught'r to Alderman Pratt bur. Feb. 5 1637 [1637/8] ^[18]

A "Richard Powell, servant to Henry Pratt" was buried at St Gregory by St Paul on 16 February 1612. ^[19]

By 1638 he was living in property on Silver Street in the parish of St Olave. The rentable value of the house was assessed at £60 per annum, by far the most valuable property on the street, and Henry separately rented three tenements which he converted to stables. ^[20]

Political Life

Johnson in his history "The Merchant Taylors Company of London" ^[6] describes Henry as one of the Aldermen of the City of London with the most Royalist sympathies. Henry was elected Sheriff of the City of London for the year 1631 and Alderman for Bridge Ward from 1633 to 1641, the year he was knighted and created a Baronet. ^[21] In 1643 he funded the Royalist war effort to the tune of £1000. In 1647, shortly before his death, he was declared a "delinquent" by Parliament. ^[6] His son and heir Sir George also funded and abetted the Royalist cause.

In 1626, he bought the manor of Coleshill, near the border of Berkshire and Wiltshire. He retained the manor until his death in 1647, when it passed to his son Sir George Pratt.^[22]

Death and Will

He died on 6 April 1647. The parish register of St Olave, Silver Street, London, records: "Sir Henry Pratt Deceassed Aprill 6th and Buried 28th at Collsell in Barkshire 1647."^[23]

His remains were interred in the chancel of All Saints Church in Coleshill, Berkshire. The parish register records his burial on 9 May 1647^[24] and a stately monument was erected for him and his wife with the inscription:

This Monument conceales the Ashes of the late honourable, prudent, and pious, Sir HENRY PRATT, Knight and Baronett, who by God's Providence, acquired the Eminence of Sheriff, and Alderman of London, and the honourable Dignity of Knight and Baronet ... He lived 75 Yeares, and deceased the vi Day of Aprill, MDCXLVII.^[25]

Henry left an extensive will written in July 1645 but not proved until April 1649. Transcription here

Research Notes

Henry Pratt of Candlewick Street Ward
There was a Henry Pratt living in Candlewick Street Ward of London at the time of the 1633-4 Visitation of London. He was the younger son of Francis Pratt of Ryston, Norfolk, and his wife Ursula Gosnold.^[26] The Visitation of Norfolk, A.D. 1664 indicates this was a younger person who was born after 1604.^[27] He has also been confused with Sir Henry Pratt's father.^[28]

Non-conformist priest
A previous version of this profile claimed that he was a reverend, persecuted and jailed for being Puritan, and apparently used his own blood to write correspondences.

As stated above, there is no proof that the Henry Pratt represented by this profile was a reverend, minister or priest.

There were clergymen named Henry Pratt living in England at this time—but nothing has been found to suggest they were the same person as this Henry Pratt-60:

1. Henry Pratt from Northamptonshire; educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; ordained as deacon and priest, 14 Jan 1594-5.^[29]
2. Henry Pratt of Northamptonshire; educated at the English College, Douai, in France; ordained as a Catholic priest on 18 Feb 1606.^[30] It looks like he served in the underground Catholic mission in England—this was a dangerous period for Catholic missionaries in England. As a Catholic priest, he couldn't have married.

There was also a Henry Pratt educated at Trinity and Caius Colleges, Cambridge, but there is no record of him being ordained as a priest. He was born about 1570 and was the son of Henry Pratt, gentleman, of Weldon, Northamptonshire. He became a junior fellow of Caius College in 1592, was Greek lecturer in 1596 and in 1604 petitioned the King to be elected a senior fellow but was not elected.^[31]

There is also no-one that fits the bill in the Clergy of the Church of England database either (although the CCED isn't complete for the early years of the Church of England). The only Henry Prat(t) named who would have been active around this time was a curate in the parish of Tipton in Staffordshire 1585.^{[citation needed]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Cokayne, Complete Baronetage, Exeter: William Pollard & Co, 1902, volume 2, page 113. Internet Archive (accessed 14 Oct 2020).
2. ↑ W H Rylands (ed), The Four Visitations of Berkshire, London, 1907, volume 1, page 266. Internet Archive (accessed 14 Oct 2020).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} C M Clode, London During the Great Rebellion, London: Harrison and son, 1892, page 28. Google Books (accessed 14 Oct 2020).
4. ↑ Thomas Wotton, The English Baronetage, London, 1741, volume 4, page 238. Google Books (accessed 11 Oct 2020).
5. ↑ Some account of the parish of Great Coxwell, in the County of Berks, London, 1783, diagram facing page 2. Google Books (accessed 11 Oct 2020).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} The Merchant Taylors Company of London 1580-1645, Nigel Sleigh-Johnson, PhD dissertation, University of London 1989. Full text Accessed on the UCL website 9 October 2020. This paper is covers the political tensions within the City of London leading up to and including the first Civil War. There is a short biography of Henry Pratt starting on page 391.
7. ↑ London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, sharing link
8. ↑ W C Metcalfe (ed), The visitation of Berkshire, 1664-6. By Elias Ashmole Windsor Herald, for Sir Edward Bysshe, Clarenceux, Exeter: William Pollard, 1882, page 79. Internet Archive (accessed 11 Oct 2020).
9. ↑ George Pratte in: Baptism register of St Gregory by St Paul, London (1559-1627). England. London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS10231 Free Ancestry Sharing Image Ancestry permalink Accessed 9 October 2020.
10. ↑ Elizabeth Pratte in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk on 9 October 2020. Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
11. ↑ Henry Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
12. ↑ Richard Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
13. ↑ William Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
14. ↑ Abraham Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
15. ↑ Dorothie Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
16. ↑ Dorothie Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
17. ↑ Amie Pratt in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
18. ↑ Amy Pratt in: parish register of St Olave Silver Street (1561-1770) London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/OLA3/A/001/MS06534. Accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 10 October 2020. FreeAncestry viewing image Ancestry Permalink
19. ↑ Richard Powell (burial) in: Parish register of St Gregory by St Paul, London, England (1559-1627). London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GRE/A/001/MS1023. Image accessed on Ancestry.co.uk 9 October 2020 Free Ancestry sharing image Ancestry permalink
20. ↑ T C Dale, 'Inhabitants of London in 1638: St. Olave, Silver Street', in The Inhabitants of London in 1638 (London, 1931), pp. 169-170. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-inhabitants/1638/pp169-170 [accessed 10 October 2020]. This is the Churches' assessment, by parish, for tithes.
21. ↑ Alfred P Beaven, 'Chronological list of aldermen: 1601-1650', in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 47-75. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp47-75 [accessed 10 October 2020].
22. ↑ 'Parishes: Coleshill', in A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4, ed. William Page and P H Ditchfield (London, 1924), pp. 517-523. British History Online (accessed 10 Oct 2020).
23. ↑ "London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812", Ancestry.com. Henry Pratt, burial, 28 Apr 1647 (accessed 12 Oct 2020); citing London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/OLA3/A/002/MS06534A. Ancestry sharing image.
24. ↑ "Berkshire Burial Index", FindMyPast. Sir Henry Pratt Kt And Baronett, 9 May 1647 (accessed 12 Oct 2020).
25. ↑ Elias Ashmole, The Antiquities of Berkshire, London, 1723, volume 2, pages 195-6. Google Books (accessed 10 Oct 2020).
26. ↑ J J Howard, The Visitation of London, Anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635, London, 1883, volume 2, page 176. Internet Archive (accessed 14 Oct 2020).
27. ↑ A W H Clarke and A Campling (eds), The Visitation of Norfolk, Anno Domini 1664, 1934, volume 2, pages 171-2. Google Books (accessed 14 Oct 2020).
28. ↑ G H Dashwood (ed), The Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563, Norwich, 1878, volume 1, page 210. Google Books (accessed 14 Oct 2029).
29. ↑ See Alumni Cantabrigienses, early series, volume 3, page 391.
30. ↑ See The Douay College Diaries, page 345.
31. ↑ See Biographical history of Gonville and Caius college, page 131; Alumni Cantabrigienses, early series, volume 3, page 391.

• Complete Baronetage v.2 p. 113