William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert
Encyclopedia
William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1572 – 29 August 1629) was an English
peer
and colonist born in Beaudesert
House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget
and Nazareth Newton. He was a descendent of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget
. William's father had been stripped of his title after fleeing to Spain
, as a result of his Catholicism
. England
had recently become a Protestant state when Henry VIII
had separated the Church of England
and placed himself at its head. Europe was ablaze with conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. England's old enemy, France, was in the midst of its Religious Wars, which saw the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
in the year in which William was born.
. He never earned the favour of Queen Elizabeth I, but the family title and lands were restored upon him by her Scottish heir, King James I, in 1605. In 1612 he became an adventurer of the Virginia Company
. The Company had been created under Royal Charter to colonise North America
as a merchant venture. It founded its first settlement, Jamestown
, in 1607. That colony fared badly in its first years, and a fleet sent to relieve it in 1609 was broken up by a hurricane, with the Company's flagship
, the Sea Venture
, lost on the reefs of Bermuda
. This began England's claim to, and the permanent settlement of, Bermuda, and the Virginia Company's Third Charter extended the limits of Virginia far enough out to sea to encompass Bermuda, which was also known as Virgineola. The first intended settlers arrived in 1612, to join the remaining survivors of the Sea Venture. Ever since, the colony (now called an Overseas Territory) has had two official names, Bermuda, and The Somers Isles. In 1615, a second company was created by the shareholders of the Virginia Company. Called the Somers Isles Company
, this administered Bermuda until 1684. Eight of Bermuda's nine parishes (originally called tribes) were commercial land, and named for major shareholders of the Company. Paget Parish
, in the centre of Bermuda, was named for William Paget in 1617. The coat of arms
of the parish is identical to that of the Baron Paget de Beaudesert. William Paget died in 1629, and was buried in West Drayton
, in Middlesex
.
representing first Shoreham, Kent
(1563) and then Oxfordshire
, Esquire of the Body to Elizabeth I
(son of Sir Francis Knollys
and Catherine Carey
), and Margaret Cave (1549–1600), daughter of Sir Ambrose Cave and Margaret Willington. William and Lettice had the following children:
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
peer
Peerage
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...
and colonist born in Beaudesert
Beaudesert
Beaudesert could refer to:*Beaudesert, Queensland, a town in Australia*Electoral district of Beaudesert, an Australian electroral district, which includes the town of Beaudesert, Queensland*Beaudesert, Warwickshire, a village in Warwickshire, England...
House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget
Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget
Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget was a member of the British aristocracy. He was the second son of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget and his wife Anne Preston. He succeeded to the title Baron Paget in 1568 on his older brother Henry's death....
and Nazareth Newton. He was a descendent of William Paget, 1st Baron Paget
William Paget, 1st Baron Paget
William Paget, 1st Baron Paget of Beaudesert , was an English statesman and accountant who held prominent positions in the service of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I.-Early life:...
. William's father had been stripped of his title after fleeing to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, as a result of his Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. England
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...
had recently become a Protestant state when Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
had separated the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and placed himself at its head. Europe was ablaze with conflicts between Catholics and Protestants. England's old enemy, France, was in the midst of its Religious Wars, which saw the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
in the year in which William was born.
Life
William, a Protestant, applied himself vigorously to England's interests, taking part in a 1596 expedition to CalaisCalais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. He never earned the favour of Queen Elizabeth I, but the family title and lands were restored upon him by her Scottish heir, King James I, in 1605. In 1612 he became an adventurer of the Virginia Company
London Company
The London Company was an English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.The territory granted to the London Company included the coast of North America from the 34th parallel ...
. The Company had been created under Royal Charter to colonise North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
as a merchant venture. It founded its first settlement, Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
, in 1607. That colony fared badly in its first years, and a fleet sent to relieve it in 1609 was broken up by a hurricane, with the Company's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, the Sea Venture
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
, lost on the reefs of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. This began England's claim to, and the permanent settlement of, Bermuda, and the Virginia Company's Third Charter extended the limits of Virginia far enough out to sea to encompass Bermuda, which was also known as Virgineola. The first intended settlers arrived in 1612, to join the remaining survivors of the Sea Venture. Ever since, the colony (now called an Overseas Territory) has had two official names, Bermuda, and The Somers Isles. In 1615, a second company was created by the shareholders of the Virginia Company. Called the Somers Isles Company
Somers Isles Company
The Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture. It held a royal charter for Bermuda until 1684, when it was dissolved, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of Bermuda as a royal...
, this administered Bermuda until 1684. Eight of Bermuda's nine parishes (originally called tribes) were commercial land, and named for major shareholders of the Company. Paget Parish
Paget Parish, Bermuda
Paget Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for William Paget, 4th Baron Paget de Beaudesert .The parish is located in the central south of the island chain, immediately south of Hamilton Harbor on the main island. It is joined to Warwick Parish in the southwest, and Devonshire...
, in the centre of Bermuda, was named for William Paget in 1617. The coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the parish is identical to that of the Baron Paget de Beaudesert. William Paget died in 1629, and was buried in West Drayton
West Drayton
West Drayton is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the far west of London, England. Formerly part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, the district became part of Greater London in 1965....
, in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
.
Family
William married before 19 June 1602 Lettice Knollys (1583-1655), daughter of Sir Henry Knollys (c. 1542 - 1583), Member of ParliamentMember 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,...
representing first Shoreham, Kent
Shoreham, Kent
Shoreham is a village and civil parish in the valley of the River Darent six miles north of Sevenoaks in Kent: it is in the District of Sevenoaks. The parish includes the settlements of Badgers Mount and Well Hill....
(1563) and then Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, Esquire of the Body to Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
(son of Sir Francis Knollys
Francis Knollys (the elder)
Sir Francis Knollys , of Greys Court, in Oxfordshire, KG was an English courtier in the service and favour of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I of England, and was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies....
and Catherine Carey
Catherine Carey
Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey, after her marriage Katherine Knollys and later Lady Knollys, pronounced "Noles" Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey, after her marriage Katherine Knollys and later Lady Knollys, pronounced "Noles" Katherine Carey, often spelt Catherine Carey,...
), and Margaret Cave (1549–1600), daughter of Sir Ambrose Cave and Margaret Willington. William and Lettice had the following children:
- Dorothy Paget (born c. 1602)
- Margaret Paget (born c. 1604 – buried 10 September 1652) married Sir William Hicks, 1st BaronetSir William Hicks, 1st BaronetSir William Hicks, 1st Baronet , of Beverston, in Gloucestershire, and of Ruckholt, in Essex, was an English Member of Parliament.-Life:...
, of Beverston - Anne Paget (born c, 1605) married (1) Sir Simon Harcourt (2) William Waller
- Henry Paget (born c. 1607)
- William Paget, 5th Baron PagetWilliam Paget, 5th Baron PagetWilliam Paget, 5th Baron Paget an English peer born at Beaudesert House Staffordshire, England to William Paget, 4th Baron Paget and Lettice Knollys.-Career:...
(13 September 1609 – 19 October 1678) married Lady Frances Rich, daughter of Henry Rich, 1st Earl of HollandHenry Rich, 1st Earl of HollandHenry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland was an English aristocrat, courtier and soldier.-Life:He was the son of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and of Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich, and the younger brother of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick...
and Isabel CopeIsabel Campbell, Countess of HollandIsabel Campbell , Countess of Holland was an English noblewoman, born in London, Middlesex, England, to Sir Walter Cope and Dorothy Grenville. Isabel married Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland in 1616. Henry was the son of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and Lady Penelope Devereaux... - Thomas Paget (born c. 1611)
- Catherine Paget (born c. 1615 - 1695) married Anthony Irby