John Puckering
Sir John Puckering(1544 – 30 April 1596) was a lawyer and politician who served asSpeaker of the House of CommonsandLord Keeper of the Great Sealfrom 1592 until his death.[1]
Origins
[edit]He was born in 1544 inFlamborough,East Riding of Yorkshire,the eldest son of William Puckering of Flamborough, by his wife Anne Ashton, daughter and heiress of John Ashton of Great Lever, Lancashire.[2]
Career
[edit]He enteredLincoln's Innon 10 April 1559[3]and wascalled to the baron 15 January 1567. After some years' practice, he became a governor in 1575, and in 1577 became an elected reader inLent.[4]He became asergeant at lawin 1580.[5]
Work in Parliament
[edit]Puckering became aMember of Parliamentin 1581.[6]On 23 November 1585, Parliament met and elected Puckering, who was returned forBedford,as Speaker of the House of Commons.[4]During this Parliament, a bill against Jesuits was brought up for discussion.[7]Dr William Parry, who was later executed forhigh treason,said the bill was "cruel, bloody and desperate". Puckering ordered him into the custody of the sergeant-at-arms for his use of language, and after some discussion, Parry apologised and retook his seat.[8]Puckering's skill with dispute solving and speeches was recognised, and he was elected as the Speaker in the next parliament, which opened on 15 October 1586 when he representedGatton, Surrey.[9]This was the parliament that decided the fate ofMary, Queen of Scots,and Puckering was heavily involved with the decision.[10]
On 1 March 1587, shortly following Mary's execution, MPPeter Wentworthasked Puckering to answer some questions regarding the liberties of the House. Puckering refused, but showed one of the questions toSir Thomas Heneageof thePrivy Council.Wentworth, and four other members of parliament who seconded his motion were imprisoned in theTower of Londonfor an unknown length of time. The following year, Puckering wasknighted[11]and according to some sources was made Queen's Sergeant, though other sources claim he had been made sergeant two years before.[4]
Queen's Sergeant
[edit]Puckering took part in several trials as Queen's Sergeant. He was successfully leader for the crown in the trial ofPhilip, Earl of Arundel,who was accused of high treason. He joined in the commission with Judge Clarke, in July 1590 in the trial ofJohn Udallwho had published libel about the queen.[9]His final trial was that ofSir John Perrot,the lord deputy of Ireland.[12]On 28 May 1592, Puckering was made theLord Keeper.[13]
Lord Keeper
[edit]Puckering was Lord Keeper for four years, but only presided over one Parliament. During this period, he lived at Russell House near Ivy Bridge, and thenYork House,both on theStrand.[14]He also owned a country house inKew,where he entertained the queen on 13 December 1595.[15]
Some of Puckering's papers as Sergeant and Lord Keeper were printed byJohn Strype.These include interrogations ofCatholic recusantslike John Whitfield in 1593, who was involved with Francis Dacre in a plot for a Spanish invasion of Scotland, and the allowance of bread for the students ofChrist Church, Oxford.[16]
Marriage and children
[edit]
He married Jane Chowne,[17]a daughter of Nicholas Chowne[18]of Fairlawn, near Wrotham, Kent, and Aldenham, Hertfordshire, by his second marriage to Elizabeth Lloyd, widow of Evan Lloyd, a brewer. By Jane he had several children, including:
- Sir Thomas Puckering, 1st Baronet(died 1636), son and heir, made abaronetin 1612. He married Elizabeth Morley, a daughter of Sir John Morley, of Halnaker in Sussex, but died childless. His monument survives inSt. Mary's Church,Warwick.Thomas's epitaph records his involvement in the education ofHenry, Prince of Wales.[19]John's daughters included Catherine, who marriedAdam Newton,the tutor of Prince Henry. After Puckering's death, his widow Jane married William Combe,[20]who with his nephew John Combe, sold land at Stratford to William Shakespeare in 1602. Jane was buried at St. Mary's, Warwick, on 15 July 1611.
Death and burial
[edit]He died on 30 April 1596 ofapoplexy,at his home, and is buried inWestminster Abbey,[21]where survives his magnificent monument,[22]displaying the arms of Chowne:Sable, three attires of a stag in pale argent.[23]
Notes
[edit]- ^Birch, Thomas,The Life of Henry Prince of Wales,London (1760), 325.
- ^"PUCKERING, John (C.1544-96), of Kew, Surr. And Weston, Herts. | History of Parliament Online".
- ^Paley Baildon, p65.
- ^abcFoss, p531.
- ^Chauncey, p134.
- ^Campbell, p184.
- ^Manning, p250.
- ^Manning, p. 251.
- ^abFoss, p. 532.
- ^Manning, pp.252–254.
- ^Manning, p. 255.
- ^Campbell, p. 187.
- ^Campbell, p. 188.
- ^Foss, p. 533.
- ^Foss, p. 534.
- ^Strype, John, ed.,Annals of the Reformation,vol.4, Oxford (1824)see contents p.vii-xxviii.
- ^PROB 11/118, 291/257-8, Will of Dame Jane Puckering or Puckeringe, Widow, dated 17 May 1611 and proved on 22 October 1611.
- ^See entry for Nicholas Chowne (Chune) in History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509–1588.
- ^Tomb epitaph, St Mary's Warwick, engraved by Wencelas Hollar
- ^See entry for William Combe in History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1551–1610.
- ^Campbell, p. 192.
- ^See image
- ^The British herald, or Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry...By Thomas Robson[1]
Bibliography
[edit]
- Campbell, John (1869).The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England.J. Murray.
- Chauncy, Henry(1826).The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire.Oxford University.
- Foss, Edward(1857).The judges of England, from the time of the Conquest.Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans.
- Manning, James Alexander(1851).The Lives of the Speakers of the House of Commons.G. Willis.
- Paley Baildon, William (1896).The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.H.S. Cartwright.
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