William Fleetwood (MP for Lancaster)
Encyclopedia
William Fleetwood was an English lawyer and politician. He was Member of Parliament
for Lancaster
1559-1567 and for London 1572–1592. A lawyer of the Middle Temple
, he was Recorder of London in 1569, and Queen's Serjeant in 1592.
to the first two parliaments of Elizabeth's reign (1559 and 1563), having previously sat for Marlborough
in the last of Mary's parliaments (1558). In 1568 he became ‘double reader in Lent’ to his inn.
By the Earl of Leicester's influence he was elected (26 April 1571) Recorder of London, and the same year was made a commissioner to inquire into the customs, besides being returned to Parliament for the City of London
(8 May 1572). As recorder he was famous for rigorously and successfully enforcing the laws against vagrants, mass-priests, and papists.
In 1576 he was committed to the Fleet prison for a short time for breaking into the Portuguese ambassador's chapel under colour of the law against popish recusants. His own account of his action, dated 9 Nov, is printed in Strype's ‘Annals.’
In 1580 he was made Serjeant-at-law
, and in 1583 a commissioner for the reformation of abuses in printing. In the same year he drafted a scheme for housing the poor and preventing the plague in London by maintaining open spaces. On 27 April 1586 he was promised, but did not receive, the post of Baron of the Exchequer. He was re-elected M.P. for London in 1584, 1586, and 1588. In 1588 he reported, with the solicitor-general, as to proceedings to be taken against the Jesuits, and in 1589 on the right of sanctuary for criminals attaching to St. Paul's churchyard. In 1591 the common council voted him a pension of 100 pounds, whereupon he resigned his office.
He was made Queen's Serjeant in 1592, and died at his house in Noble Street, Aldersgate, on 28 Feb 1593/4. He had formerly lived at Bacon House, Foster Lane, and at his death owned an estate at Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, where he was buried.
He married Mariana, daughter of John Barley of Kingsey, Buckinghamshire, by whom he left a family of six sons and two daughters. His elder son, Sir William, succeeded to Missenden, and a younger son, Sir Thomas, of the Middle Temple, was attorney to Henry, prince of Wales. One daughter (Cordelia) married Sir David Foulis [q. v.], and the other (Elizabeth) Sir Thomas Chaloner (1561–1615)
Many of Fleetwood's works remain in manuscript. Among them are ‘Observacons sur Littleton’ (Harl. MS. 5225), besides four volumes of reports and law commonplaces (Harl. MS. 5153–6), and an imperfect but interesting ‘Itinerarium ad Windsor’ (Gent. Mag. 1857, i. 602). Wood saw in manuscript ‘Observations upon the Eyre of Pickering,’ and on Lambarde's ‘Archeion.’ In the preface to the ‘Office of a Justice’ Fleet- wood mentions a work by himself ‘De Pace Ecclesiæ,’ not otherwise known.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Lancaster
Lancaster (UK Parliament constituency)
Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England...
1559-1567 and for London 1572–1592. A lawyer of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, he was Recorder of London in 1569, and Queen's Serjeant in 1592.
Early life
Fleetwood was born about 1535, the (possibly illegitimate) son of Robert Fleetwood, in turn the third son of William Fleetwood of Heskin in Lancashire and educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, which he left without a degree. He was called to the bar of the Middle Temple. He became freeman by patrimony of the Merchant Taylors' Company of London on 21 June 1557; autumn reader of his inn on 21 May 1563; steward of the company's manor of Rushbrook in 1564, and counsel in their suit against the Clothworkers in 1565.Career
In 1559 he was one of the commissioners to visit the dioceses of Oxford, Lincoln, Peterborough, Coventry, and Lichfield, and was elected M.P. for LancasterLancaster (UK Parliament constituency)
Lancaster was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1867, centred on the historic city of Lancaster in north-west England...
to the first two parliaments of Elizabeth's reign (1559 and 1563), having previously sat for Marlborough
Marlborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Marlborough was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.e-1295-1640:-1640-1868:...
in the last of Mary's parliaments (1558). In 1568 he became ‘double reader in Lent’ to his inn.
By the Earl of Leicester's influence he was elected (26 April 1571) Recorder of London, and the same year was made a commissioner to inquire into the customs, besides being returned to Parliament for the City of London
City of London (UK Parliament constituency)
The City of London was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.-Boundaries and boundary...
(8 May 1572). As recorder he was famous for rigorously and successfully enforcing the laws against vagrants, mass-priests, and papists.
In 1576 he was committed to the Fleet prison for a short time for breaking into the Portuguese ambassador's chapel under colour of the law against popish recusants. His own account of his action, dated 9 Nov, is printed in Strype's ‘Annals.’
In 1580 he was made Serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
, and in 1583 a commissioner for the reformation of abuses in printing. In the same year he drafted a scheme for housing the poor and preventing the plague in London by maintaining open spaces. On 27 April 1586 he was promised, but did not receive, the post of Baron of the Exchequer. He was re-elected M.P. for London in 1584, 1586, and 1588. In 1588 he reported, with the solicitor-general, as to proceedings to be taken against the Jesuits, and in 1589 on the right of sanctuary for criminals attaching to St. Paul's churchyard. In 1591 the common council voted him a pension of 100 pounds, whereupon he resigned his office.
He was made Queen's Serjeant in 1592, and died at his house in Noble Street, Aldersgate, on 28 Feb 1593/4. He had formerly lived at Bacon House, Foster Lane, and at his death owned an estate at Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, where he was buried.
Private life
Fleetwood was a hard-working judge, and was disappointed at not receiving higher preferment. His connection with Leicester was insisted on by Leicester's enemies, and he is called ‘Leicester's mad Recorder’ in ‘Leicester's Commonwealth,’ but he was at the same time assiduous in cultivating Lord Burghley's favour. He was noted for his witty speeches, and his eloquence is eulogised by Thomas Newton in his ‘Encomia,’ 1589.He married Mariana, daughter of John Barley of Kingsey, Buckinghamshire, by whom he left a family of six sons and two daughters. His elder son, Sir William, succeeded to Missenden, and a younger son, Sir Thomas, of the Middle Temple, was attorney to Henry, prince of Wales. One daughter (Cordelia) married Sir David Foulis [q. v.], and the other (Elizabeth) Sir Thomas Chaloner (1561–1615)
Printed works
Fleetwood's works are:- 1. ‘An Oration made at Guildhall before the Mayor, concerning the late attempts of the Queen's Maiesties evil seditious subjects,’ 15 Oct. 1571, 12mo.
- 2. ‘Annalium tam Regum Edwardi V, Ric. III, et Hen. VII quam Hen. VIII, titulorum ordine alphabetico digestorum Elenchus,’ 1579, 1597.
- 3. ‘A Table to the Reports of Edmund Plowden’ (in French), 1578, 1579, 1599.
- 4. ‘The Office of a Justice of the Peace,’ 1658, 8vo (posthumous).
- 5. Verses before Sir Thomas Chaloner's ‘De Republica Anglorum instauranda,’ 1579, and Lambarde's ‘Perambulation of Kent,’ 1576.
Many of Fleetwood's works remain in manuscript. Among them are ‘Observacons sur Littleton’ (Harl. MS. 5225), besides four volumes of reports and law commonplaces (Harl. MS. 5153–6), and an imperfect but interesting ‘Itinerarium ad Windsor’ (Gent. Mag. 1857, i. 602). Wood saw in manuscript ‘Observations upon the Eyre of Pickering,’ and on Lambarde's ‘Archeion.’ In the preface to the ‘Office of a Justice’ Fleet- wood mentions a work by himself ‘De Pace Ecclesiæ,’ not otherwise known.