Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell
Encyclopedia
Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KB
(c. 1514 – 4 July 1551) was an English
peer.
, then in Surrey
, the first child and only son of Thomas Cromwell
, later 1st Baron Cromwell
and briefly 1st Earl of Essex
, and his first wife, the former Elizabeth Wykys.
He was tutored by Sir Richard Southwell and attended Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge
, where he graduated
.
as Baron Cromwell, of Oakham
in the County of Rutland
, and summoned to Parliament
. This title was a new creation, rather than a restoration of his father's forfeited barony, and had a different territorial designation
.
He was invested as a Knight
of the Order of the Bath
at the coronation of King Edward VI
.
, Savernake
, Wiltshire
, he married Elizabeth, Lady Oughtred (née Elizabeth Seymour), the sister of Jane Seymour
(and therefore the aunt of King Edward VI). She was a daughter of Sir John Seymour and the widow of Sir Anthony Oughtred. They had five children:
, Leicestershire
, was buried at Launde Abbey
and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Henry's grandson, Thomas, 4th Baron Cromwell, was created Earl of Ardglass
in the Peerage of Ireland
in 1645. The Earldom of Ardglass expired in 1687, and the Barony of Cromwell became dormant in 1709.
. In Wolf Hall
, a novel by Hilary Mantel
, which offers a sympathetic portrayal of the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Gregory is depicted as a childlike, slightly inept but lovable young man.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(c. 1514 – 4 July 1551) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
peer.
Early life
Cromwell was born in PutneyPutney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, then in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, the first child and only son of Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex
Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....
, later 1st Baron Cromwell
Baron Cromwell
Baron Cromwell is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, which was by writ, was for John de Cromwell in 1308. On his death, the barony became extinct. The second creation came in 1375 when Ralph de Cromwell was summoned by writ to Parliament as...
and briefly 1st Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
, and his first wife, the former Elizabeth Wykys.
He was tutored by Sir Richard Southwell and attended Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he graduated
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
.
Peerage and knighthood
On 18 December 1540, shortly after his father's execution, he was raised to the PeeragePeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Cromwell, of Oakham
Oakham
-Oakham's horseshoes:Traditionally, members of royalty and peers of the realm who visited or passed through the town had to pay a forfeit in the form of a horseshoe...
in the County of Rutland
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....
, and summoned to Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. This title was a new creation, rather than a restoration of his father's forfeited barony, and had a different territorial designation
Territorial designation
A territorial designation follows modern peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies...
.
He was invested as a Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
at the coronation of King Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
.
Marriage and issue
Before 1538, at WulfhallWulfhall
Wulfhall or Wolfhall is an early 17th century manor house and the site of a deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Burbage , on the edge of Savernake Forest, in the English county of Wiltshire...
, Savernake
Savernake
Savernake may refer to:* Savernake, New South Wales, Australia* Savernake Forest, a privately owned forest in the county of Wiltshire, England* Savernake Low Level railway station, a closed station on the Great Western Railway between Bedwyn and Pewsey...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, he married Elizabeth, Lady Oughtred (née Elizabeth Seymour), the sister of Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...
(and therefore the aunt of King Edward VI). She was a daughter of Sir John Seymour and the widow of Sir Anthony Oughtred. They had five children:
- The Hon. Henry CromwellHenry Cromwell, 2nd Baron CromwellHenry Cromwell, 2nd Baron Cromwell of Oakham was an English peer.-Family and peerage:Cromwell was the eldest son of Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell of Oakham and Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, King of England...
(later 2nd Baron Cromwell) - The Hon. Frances Cromwell (c. 1544 - 7 February 1562), whose settlement of marriage to Richard Strode of Newnham, Devon, son of William Strode of Newenham and Elizabeth Courtenay, was on 3 January 1561 at ComptonCompton-Canada:* Compton, Quebec* Compton County, Quebec* Compton , a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton* Compton , a former Quebec federal electoral district-England:...
, HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
; she had one son William StrodeWilliam Strode (died 1637)Sir William Strode was an English landowner, military engineer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1597 and 1626.... - The Hon. Catherine (or Katherine) Cromwell, who married Sir John Strode of Parnham, DorsetDorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, son of Robert Strode and Elizabethe Hody, and had six sons - The Hon. Edward Cromwell
- The Hon. Thomas CromwellThomas Cromwell (Parliamentary diarist)Thomas Cromwell , born in Putney, third surviving son of The 1st Baron Cromwell and grandson of the famous Thomas Cromwell, was an English Member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I...
Death and succession
He died at LaundeLaunde
Launde is a civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, bordering Rutland. The parish is the site of Launde Abbey. It gives its name to an electoral division of Leicestershire that stretches all the way from Scraptoft, Thurnby and Stoughton, near Leicester, to the border with...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, was buried at Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey
Launde Abbey is located in Leicestershire, 14 miles east of the city of Leicester and six miles south west of Oakham. The building is presently used as a conference and retreat centre, by the Church of England Dioceses of Leicester and Peterborough....
and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Henry's grandson, Thomas, 4th Baron Cromwell, was created Earl of Ardglass
Earl of Ardglass
The title Earl of Ardglass was created in the Peerage of Ireland on 15 April 1645. The Earl held the subsidiary titles of Baron Cromwell and Viscount Lecale...
in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
in 1645. The Earldom of Ardglass expired in 1687, and the Barony of Cromwell became dormant in 1709.
In culture
Gregory Cromwell is played by Jack West in the Season 3 finale of Showtime cable television show The TudorsThe Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
. In Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall is a multi-award winning historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex in the court of Henry VIII of...
, a novel by Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards...
, which offers a sympathetic portrayal of the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Gregory is depicted as a childlike, slightly inept but lovable young man.