Nicholas Wykes, MP, of Dodington

From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/wy...

MP in GLOUCESTERSHIRE, Apr. 1554

Family and Education

b. by 1488, 1st s. of Edmund Wykes of Dodington and Dursley by Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Norton of Bristol. m. (1) c.1508 Elizabeth, da. of Sir Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton by Margaret, illegit. da. of Anthony Wydevill, 2nd Earl Rivers, 6s. 2da.; (2) by 1555, Anne. suc. fa. 21 Nov. 1514.1

Offices Held

Gent. waiter to Prince Henry 1511: Commr. subsidy, Glos. 1524, relief, Glos., Bristol 1550; j.p. Glos. 1531-?d., comptroller of customs, Bristol 1542-5; escheator, Glos. 1544-5; sheriff 1544-5, 1554-5.2 Biography

Nicholas Wykes’s grandfather and father were probably the John and Edmund Wykes admitted to Lincoln’s Inn in 1465 and 1486. Whatever his calling, Edmund Wykes secured an important match for his son with the daughter of Sir Robert Poyntz, vice-chamberlain to Catherine of Aragon. Edmund Wykes left to his son the modest family estates in Gloucestershire, two manors in Somerset and four tenements in Bristol obtained through his marriage into the Norton family.3

Wykes doubtless secured his post at court through the influence of his wife’s family. His sister-in-law Elizabeth Poyntz was nurse to the infant Prince Henry and after the prince’s death Wykes may have continued in the Queen’s household under his father-in-law. Although he was distantly related to the royal family, Wykes appears to have led an unspectacular life as a country landowner. In 1527 he obtained the grant of a market and two fairs at Dursley, but his chief dwelling was at Dodington, where according to Leland he restored the house from material brought from the ruins of Dursley castle. Having possessions to the yearly value of £40 or more, he is listed among those who had not compounded for knighthood in 1547. As sheriff in that year he returned his nephew Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Sir Anthony Kingston to Parliament and in 1555 he did the same for Kingston and Sir Nicholas Arnold. His own election to the second Parliament of Mary’s reign was a natural extension of his local career. Nothing is known about his part in the House.4

Wykes died on 21 Apr. 1558. By his will, written in his own hand on 10 Mar. 1556 although he was a sick man, he asked to be buried near the high altar in Dodington church. He left pieces of land or small sums of money to his five surviving sons and two daughters, and he appointed his son William executor. His heir was his grandson Robert, aged 30 and more, the son of John Wykes who had predeceased him.5 Ref Volumes: 1509-1558 Author: M. K. Dale

Notes

*   1.    Date of birth estimated from age at fa.’s i.p.m., C142/29/87, 98. Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. ix. 275-6; CPR, 1554-5, p. 139.

• 2. LP Hen. VIII, i, iv, v, viii, xii, xvi, xvii, xx, xxi; CPR, 1553, pp. 354, 361; E122/21/6, 15.
• 3. CIPM Hen. VII, i. 68; C142/29/87, 96, 98.
• 4. LP Hen. VIII, i, iv, xiii, xvii, xix; Leland, Itin. ed Smith, viii. 130; x. 94; SP10/2/97.
• 5. PCC 27 Noodes; C142/113/48.

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References

• The Topographer, Volume 2 edited by Sir Egerton Brydges Page 99. GoogleBooks
• http://www.henryviiithereign.co.uk/tewkesbury-to-berkeley-castle.html Thomas Cromwell, the enigmatic politician,and Henry's first minister was married to Elizabeth Wykes who to many will be familiar from Wolf Hall. She was from a wealthy family, Wykes of Chertsey. I have not succeeded in establishing a connection and can prove nothing save that a Nicholas Wykes held the manor of Leonard Stanley in 1535. He also held nearby Dursley and Dodington. The Wykes also had further land to the north-west at Arlingham, a ferry crossing point over the Severn, a route to South Wales. As we shall see shortly, Cromwell was joint constable of Berkley Castle with his Welsh nephew, Richard Williams. Nicholas Wykes was married to Elizabeth Poyntz, and her nephew, also a Nicholas held Iron Acton which was on the itinerary for a visit later in the month – more on that at Iron Acton.