Richard Wenman, 1st Viscount

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wenman,_1st_Viscount_Wenman:

Family and Education

b. c.1573, 1st s. of Thomas Wenman† of Thame Park and Jane, da. of William, 1st Bar. De La Warr.1 educ. Eton 1585; Oxf. 1587, aged 14 .2 m. (1) c.1595, Agnes (bur. 4 July 1617),3 da. of Sir George Fermor of Easton Neston, Northants., 4s. 5da.;4 (2) 1 Nov. 1618,5 Alice, da. and coh. of Henry Coddenham of London, auditor of imprests 1560-70, wid. of Robert Chamberlain of Shirburn, Oxon., s.p.;6 (3) Elizabeth (bur. 27 Apr. 1629), s.p.; (4) Mary (bur. 28 July 1638),7 da. and coh. of Thomas Keble of Newbottle, Northants., wid. of Thomas Barker of Astrop, Northants. and Michael Lister of Friars Head, Craven, Yorks., s.p.8 suc. fa. 1577;9 kntd. ?22 June 1596;10 cr. Visct. Wenman of Tuam [I] 30 July 1628.11 d. 3 Apr. 1640.12

Offices Held

J.p. Oxon. 1604-?6, 1618-?26;13 commr. sewers, Berks. and Oxon. 1604-34,14 subsidy, Oxon. 1621-2, 1624;15 dep. lt. Oxon. 1624,16 collector of Privy Seal loans 1626, Forced Loan 1627,17 sheriff 1627-8;18 commr. knighthood fines 1631.19

Biography

At the end of the fifteenth century the Wenmans were Oxfordshire wool merchants settled in the Witney area, but they rose to a leading position among the gentry of their county through a series of fortunate marriages.20 Wenman was knighted by Essex on the Cadiz expedition in 1596, and returned for Oxfordshire in 1597. His wife was a recusant, and after the Gunpowder Plot he came under suspicion as a result of her connection (through her friend Lady Vaux) with the Jesuit John Gerard.21 Wenman cleared himself, but he was omitted from the commission of the peace for some years. In his autobiography Gerard described Wenman as ‘a knight with a large estate, who hoped one day to become a baron, and is still hoping’ [c.1609].22 After the death of his wife, Wenman married a childless widow who, according to Chamberlain, decided to live in London all winter rather than ‘be troubled with his children’, and ‘to reserve £400 a year for her own maintenance, leaving him £800 a year to dispose of, besides £2,000 ready money and other implements that she brings with her’.23 A year later, however, one of her London neighbours reported that Lady Wenman had decided to ‘come no more to London, but live altogether in the country, and all here in St. Bartholomew’s are very glad of it’.24

Whatever her faults, Lady Wenman’s fortune enabled her husband to regain the county seat in 1620, after the lapse of almost a quarter of a century. He was named to committees to consider bills for the observance of the Sabbath (15 Feb. 1621) and the maintenance of the kingdom’s armaments (7 March).25 On 23 Apr. he recommended that Sir John Bennet* should be sent to the Tower pending investigation of his alleged corruption as a judge in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.26 Three days later Wenman was appointed to a committee to arrange the business of the House.27 He was said to have been ‘the chief striver’ against the order of baronets.28 On 1 May he joined in the hue and cry against the Catholic lawyer Edward Floyd for insulting the king’s daughter.29 He left no mark on the records of the winter sitting, and was not returned again until 1625, when his only appointment was to the committee for privileges on 21 June.30

Wenman’s cravings for social elevation were at last satisfied in 1628 with an Irish viscountcy. He was excused from attending the Dublin Parliament of 1634, and sent a proxy.31 Having made his will on 15 Aug. 1638, he died on 3 Apr. 1640, and was buried at Twyford.32 His son Thomas* inherited his title and estates.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629 Authors: Alan Davidson / Rosemary Sgroi Notes 1. Lipscombe, Bucks. iii. 131-2. 2. Eton Coll. Reg. comp. W. Sterry, 354; Al. Ox. 3. Her. and Gen. ii. 521-3. 4. Vis. Oxon. (Harl. Soc. v), 179. 5. E.A. Webb, Recs. St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, ii. opp. 263. 6. Vis. Oxon. 237. 7. Her. and Gen. ii. 522. 8. Baker, Northants. i. 659. 9. C142/182/42. 10. Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 93. 11. C66/2494. 12. C142/594/49. 13. C66/1620; C193/13/1; C231/4, f. 56. 14. C181/1, f. 85; 181/4, f. 179. 15. C212/22/20, 21, 23. 16. CSP Dom. 1623-5, p. 407. 17. APC, 1626, p. 168; E401/2586, p. 98; T. Rymer, Foedera, viii. pt. 2, p. 145. 18. List of Sheriffs comp. A. Hughes (PRO, L. and I. ix), 109. 19. E178/5588, ff. 4, 7, 10; E178/7154, ff. 156, 157. 20. VCH Oxon. vi. 127-8; vii. 177, 211; VCH Bucks. iv. 255; Parochial Collections (Oxon. Rec. Soc. xi), 346. 21. CSP Dom. 1603-10, pp. 240, 259, 266, 267; HMC Hatfield, xvii. 538; A. Davidson, ‘The Second Mrs. Sheldon’, Worcs. Recusant, xiv. 15-21. 22. J. Gerard, Autobiog. ed. P. Caraman, 169. 23. Chamberlain Letters ed. N.E. McClure, ii. 181-2. 24. C115/100/7526. 25. CJ, i. 523a, 543a. 26. CD 1621, iii. 57. 27. CJ, i. 592b. 28. CD 1621, iii. 104. 29. CJ, i. 588a; CD 1621, iii. 126. 30. Procs. 1625, p. 206. 31. CSP Ire. 1633-47, pp. 229, 256, 288. 32. PROB 11/182, f. 349; VCH Bucks. iv. 259.

Richard Wenman, 1st Viscount Wenman (1573–1640) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1625. He was created Viscount Wenman in the Peerage of Ireland in 1628.

Wenman was the eldest son of Sir Thomas (or Richard according to Burke [1]%29 Wenman (died 1577) of Thame Park, Oxfordshire, and his wife Jane West, daughter of William West, 1st Baron De La Warr. He matriculated at Oxford University on 8 December 1587 as 'Mr. Case's scholar.'[2]

Wenman served as a volunteer soldier and behaved with great gallantry when Cadiz was captured in 1596.[2] He was knighted by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex at Cadiz.[3]

Wenman was elected Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire on 20 December 1620, and was elected again in 1625.[4] In 1627 he was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire. He was created Baron Wenman of Kilmainham, co. Meath, and Viscount Wenman of Tuam by letters patent, dated 30 July 1628.[2]

Wenman died on 3 April 1640, and was buried at Twyford on 7 April.

Wenman married four times. His first wife was Agnes Fermor. By her he had two surviving sons, Thomas Wenman, 2nd Viscount Wenman and Philip (died 20 April 1696), who succeeded as third viscount; and four daughters. After her death, he married Alice Chamberlayne, widow of Robert Chamberlayne and a lady of some wealth, on 4 November 1618 at St. Bartholomew the Great, London. His third wife, Elizabeth, was buried at Twyford on 27 April 1629. His fourth wife was Mary Keble, daughter Thomas Keble of Essex, and she was buried at Twyford on 28 July 1638.

links

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