Clement THROCKMORTON of Haseley

Born: ABT 1512 / 1516, Coughton, Warwickshire, England

Died: 1573

Buried: 1573, Haseley, Warwickshire, England

Father: George THROCKMORTON of Coughton (Sir Knight)

Mother: Catherine VAUX

Married: Catherine NEVILLE ABT 1540, Haseley, Warwick, England

Children:

The details in this biography come from the History of Parliament, a biographical dictionary of Members of the House of Commons.

Born by 1516, son of Sir George Throckmorton, and brother of Anthony, George, John, Kenelm, Nicholas and Robert. Receiver, lands formerly of Evesham abbey 15 Dec 1540; servant of Sir Richard Rich by 1541; surveyor, court augmentations, Warws. by Apr 1542-1553, Exchequer 1553-1567; cupbearer, household of Queen Catherine Parr by 1544-1548; commissioner chanteries, Leic. and Warws. Army officer, served with distinction at Boulogne 1544 (NOT 1549). 1546, 1548, relief Warws. 1550, loan Warws. 1557; particular receiver for Queen Catherine Parr, Leic. and Warws. by 1547-48; Justice of Peace Warws. 1547-1572, q. 1573; constable, Kenilworth castle, Warws. 19 Sept. 1553- death; member, High Commission 1572.

Clement Throckmorton's upbringing and early life appear to have left little trace, but by 1541 he was in the service of Sir Richard Rich, with whom he had a family connection through a great-grandmother, Catherine Rich. His activities during the years that followed were largely dictated by his master's chancellorship of the augmentations: they involved much travel, particularly with a view to ensuring that houses designated for the King's progresses were fit for the purpose. The work was evidently rewarding both materially and in terms of patronage: in 1545 Throckmorton made his first purchase of monastic lands and he continued to buy property regularly until his death, in 1552 receiving a legacy of 400 pounds from his father for land purchases. His rapid ascendancy in Warwickshire owed as much to his family's standing there and his surveyorship in the augmentations as to the marriage of his cousin Catherine Parr to Henry VIII, an appointment in her household and his own marriage into a noble family.

Throckmorton's election to the last but one of Henry VIII's Parliaments he doubtless owed to his father, perhaps assisted by his master Rich; the town of Warwick was amendable to Sir George Throckmorton's influence and a number of Rich's dependants were returned on this occasion almost certainly to smooth passage of measures relating to the royal estates. Throckmorton was to sit for Warwick again, but in the next Parliament is was his brother Kenelm who was elected there while he transferred to Devizes, which formed part of Catherine Parr's jointure as Queen. In the first Parliament of the new reign another brother, Sir Nicholas, sat for Devizes and Clement returned to Warwick; he was to be re-elected there to the two following Parliaments, in Mar 1553 with his brother John. That this sequence of elections was broken in 1554 is probably to be attributed to Throckmorton's Protestant leanings- in Mary's 1st Parliament he was one of those who 'stood for the true religion'- and to the implication of his brother Nicholas and kinsmen John Throckmorton in plots against the government, although the family's hold on Warwick was strong enough for two other brothers, George and Kenelm, to be elected there in turn. Throckmorton himself remained loyal to Mary: in Feb 1554 he helped to arrest the fugitive Duke of Suffolk and then rode to court to announce the capture to the Queen.

His uncle, Michael Throckmorton had received the estate of Haseley from Queen Mary in 1553, on the attainder of its former owner, John, Duke of Northumberland. This estate was presented to Clement by his uncle in 1555.

In that year he was one of the founder members of the Russia Company and in the following year he undertook the rebuilding of his house at Haseley in a style befitting his wealth and position.

With the accession of Elizabeth, Throckmorton resumed his career in the Commons, sitting in every Parliament summoned before his death. The adherence of his eldest brother Robert to Catholicism compromised the senior branch of the family and enhanced his own influence as one who was described in 1564 as ‘a favourer of true religion’. Throckmorton died on 14 Dec 1573 and was buried at Haseley.

Sources:

A. L. Rowse: 'Raleigh and the Throckmortons'

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