George THROCKMORTON

Born: ABT 1533, Coughton, Warwickshire, England

Died: 1612

Father: George THROCKMORTON of Coughton (Sir Knight)

Mother: Catherine VAUX

Married 1: Frances BRYDGES

Married 2: Mary BRYDGES ABT 1558, Sudeley Manor, Gloucestershire, England

Children:

1. Nicholas THROCKMORTON

2. Elizabeth THROCKMORTON

3. Sarah THROCKMORTON

4. Henry THROCKMORTON

5. John THROCKMORTON

6. Jane THROCKMORTON

7. Michael THROCKMORTON

8. George THROCKMORTON

9. Susan THROCKMORTON

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

Born by 1523, younger son of Sir George Throckmorton, and brother of Anthony, Clement, John, Kenelm, Nicholas and Robert. Married Frances, or Mary, (or possibly the two sisters) dau. of Sir John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos of Sudeley, and had 2 sons and 3 daughters. Gent. at arms by 1544, gentleman pensioner in reversion by Feb. 1547; gentleman pensioner by Apr 1549-1561/4; commissioner musters, Warws. 1546; comptroller of petty customs, London 12 Sep 1553; gov. household of Anne of Cleves 1554; master of Queen's Hawks in 1570.

George Throckmorton was one of the three Throckmorton brothers who obtained court office after the marriage of their kinswoman Catherine Parr to Henry VIII. Like the other two, Clement and Nicholas, he was probably a Protestant - Nicholas Throckmorton was to recommend him to Elizabeth as a suitable replacement for the Catholic Sir Leonard Chamberlain as governor of Guernsey (Channel Islands)- but his religion did not prevent his remaining a gentleman pensioner throughout Mary's reign: he attended the funerals of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary.

George Throckmorton has to be distinguished in his early years from a kinsman and namesake of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, who died in 1548. He served at the siege of Boulogne and when taken prisoner by the French was ransomed for the large sum of £1,000; in 1548 he was a captain at Boulogne when Sir John Brydges was deputy governor and lieutenant. His father had conveyed the lease of the manor of Great Alne to him by Sep 1550 when the Privy Council ordered an abatement of rent in reward ‘for his good service’. He spent part of Edward VI's reign abroad, being in Venice in 1551 and 1552 to learn the language and gain worldly experience. If he was one of the four Throckmorton brothers who are said to have sent word to Mary of Edward's death, the comptrollership of petty customs, forfeited by Sir Henry Gates, may likewise have been a reward for good service. He was returned for Warwick, at this time largely controlled by his family, when one of his brothers was sheriff and another a prisoner in the Tower.

In 1559 Throckmorton accused his wife of attempting to poison him, but after her family had complained that he had been tampering with the witnesses a futher inquiry found that she had been guilty of nothing more serious than an indiscreet and evidently unsuccessful use of potions to win her husband's love. How the couple fared after this has not been discovered and the date of Throckmorton's eventual death is unknown: the last reference found to him is in 1573 when his eldest brother Robert granted him the wardship of a cousin.

Sources:

A. L. Rowse, Ralegh and the Throckmortons

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