Henry Wriothesley
(2nd E. Southampton)
Christened: 24 Apr 1545, St.Andrew's, Holborn
Acceded: 1550
Died: 4 Oct 1581, Itchel, Hampshire, England
Buried: 30 Nov 1581, Titchfield, Hampshire, England
Notes: The Complete Peerage vol.XIIp1,p.126-127.
Father: Thomas WRIOTHESLEY (1° E. Southampton)
Mother: Jane CHENEY (C. Southampton)
Married: Mary BROWNE (C. Southampton) 19 Feb 1565/6, London, Middlesex, England
Children:
1. Henry WRIOTHESLEY (3° E. Southampton)
2. Maria WRIOTHESLEY (B. Arundell of Wardour)
Only
surviving son of Thomas
Wriothesley, first earl of Southampton, by his wife,
Jane
Cheney, was christened on 24 Apr 1545 'at St. Andrewes in Holborne
with great solempnity', William
Parr, Earl of Essex was deputy for his godfather, the king Henry
VIII; and the Duke of Suffolk
was the other godfather; Lady
Mary was godmother at the christning; and the Earl of Arundel godfather at
the 'bishopinge'. He was styled Baron Wriothesley from 1547 until 30 Jul
1550, when he succeeded as second Earl of Southampton. In Aug 1552 Edward
VI was entertained at Titchfield, and in 1560 the council
entrusted the Earl, 'as a ward of state', to the care of William
More of Loseley Park, near Guildford. Southampton, who was
privately educated, inclined to the Roman catholic religion, and married
into a Roman catholic family. His wife was Mary, daughter of Anthony
Browne, first viscount Montague, and the marriage took place
on 19 Feb 1565/6, when Southampton was still under age, at Montague's
house, 'by hys advyse without the consent of my lady hys mother'.
In 1569 he entertained Queen Elizabeth
at Titchfield, but his Roman catholic sympathies had already involved him
in the scheme for marrying Mary Queen
of Scots to the Duke
of Norfolk. This was not the limit of his disloyalty; for on 1
Dec 1569 the Spanish ambassador wrote to the Duke of Alva, 'Lord
Montague and the Earl of Southampton have sent to ask me for advice as to
whether they should take up arms or go over to your excellency'. On
the 18th he reported that the two lords actually started for Flanders, but
were driven back by contrary winds. Southampton was arrested on 16
Jun 1570, and placed in the custody of Sir William More of Loseley,
his former guardian. According to Guerau de Spes the Earl
was again arrested in Oct 1571, 'having come unsuspiciously to court'.
He was reported to be one of those 'with whom Ridolfi most practised,
and upon whom he put most trust', and, according to the Bishop of
Ross, Southampton consulted him as to whether he might
conscientiously obey Queen Elizabeth
after the bull of excommunication. He was examined on 31 Oct 1571 and
denied the truth of these accusations.
He is said to have remained at Loseley till Jul 1573, but it appears that
after this examination he was really confined in the Tower. On 30 Mar 1573
his father-in-law was allowed to confer with him 'touching matters of
law and the use of his living in the lieutenant [of the Tower]'s presence'.
On 1 May following he was allowed 'more liberty', and on 14 Jul was
permitted to remain with Montague
at Cowdray, near Midhurst, Sussex. His dispute with the lieutenant of the
Tower about his diets was settled by arbitration, and on 12 Jul 1574 he
was placed on the commission of the peace for Hampshire. He was also a
commissioner for the transport of grain, commissioner of musters, and
suppress piracy. Two months before his death he was suspected of
harbouring Edmund Campion;
and on 20 Dec 1581 his house in Holborn was searched by order of the
council.
It needs to be pointed out that it is a certainty that one of Edward
Dymoke's relatives by the name of Thomas had been a favorite
of Henry, 2º Earl of Southampton.
Southampton died, in his thirty-seventh year, on 4 Oct 1581, and was
buried in Titchfield church, where his monument is still extant. By his
wife Southampton had issue a son, who died young; his son and
successor, Henry
Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton; and a daughter Mary,
who in 1585 married in her mother's private chapel in St. Andrew's,
Holborn, Thomas Arundell, afterwards first baron Arundell of
Wardour; the marriage license, dated 18 Jun 1585, was issued to the
bridegroom's father, Sir Matthew
Arundell. His will, dated 29 Jun 1581, was proved in 1583. His
widow married, as her second husband, Sir
Thomas Heneage; and as her third, in May 1598, Sir William
Hervey of Kidbrooke. She died in 1607, and was buried at Titchfield,
her will, dated 22 Apr, being proved on 4 Nov 1607. Autograph letters from
Southampton to Burghley
and the lords of the council desiring his release are extant in Lansdowne
MSS. 16, arts. 22 and 23, and 17, art, 14.
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