Sir James Altham, MP

ALTHAM, James (d.1617), of London and Oxhey, Herts

Biography

Family and Education

s. of James Altham of Mark Hall, Latton, Essex by Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Blancke, haberdasher of London. educ. Trinity Coll. Camb. 1571; G. Inn 1575, called 1581. m. (1) Margaret, da. of Oliver Skinner, 1s.; (2) c.1598, Mary, da. of Richard or Hugh Stapers of London, 1s. 2da.; (3) Helen, da. of John Saunderson, merchant of London, wid. of John Hyde, mercer of London, s.p. Kntd. 15 Feb. 1607.

Offices Held

Ancient, G. Inn Feb. 1589, bencher 1595, Autumn reader 1600, double reader 1603; serjeant-at-law 1603; baron of the Exchequer 1607.

Biography
Altham was a lawyer who twice missed being made recorder of London. He probably owed his return at Bramber to a court patron. He left no trace on the surviving records of the 1589 Parliament, but as counsel for the city of London he drew up seven bills for the 1601 Parliament, of which he was not a Member. He was made a judge by James I, who knighted him at Whitehall. Francis Bacon called him ‘one of the gravest and most reverend judges of this kingdom’.

He died 21 Feb. 1617, and the will he had made three years earlier was proved on 10 Mar. His funeral was to be carried out privately at night in his chapel at Oxhey House, where he had erected a monument. He left £500 and plate to his wife, and had already provided for his elder son Sir James and daughter Mary. The will mentions a dwelling-house in London; two tenements in the parish of St. Martin Outwich; the manor farm, lands and rectory of Thorganby, Yorkshire; and recently purchased property in Essex. The charitable legacies included £20 each to the parishes of St. Martin Outwich and Watford, Hertfordshire for distribution to the poor; there were also bequests to poor prisoners, and towards the repair of the highways Edgware and Watford.

DNB; Mdx. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lxv), 158; Foss, Judges, vi. 49-51; Lansd. 78, f. 161; 116, f. 23; Neale, Commons, 387; PCC 26 Weldon.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603
Author: J.C.H.

Family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Altham

By his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Oliver Skinner, Altham had issue one child only, a son James, afterwards Sir James Altham of Oxhey, knight. This Sir James Altham married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Sutton of London, and had issue a boy, who died in infancy, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Frances.

Elizabeth Altham married Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, second Viscount Valentia and first Earl of Anglesey, whose second son, Altham Annesley, was created in 1680 Baron Altham of Altham, with limitation in default of male issue to his younger brothers. His only son dying in infancy, the title devolved upon the younger branch of the Annesley family, who subsequently succeeded to the earldom of Anglesey. The earldom lapsed in 1771, when the English House of Lords decided against the legitimacy of the last claimant.

Frances, the second daughter of Sir James Altham of Oxhey, married Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery. The title lapsed in 1713.

By his second wife, Mary, daughter of Richard Stapers, Esq., Altham had three children, a son Richard, who died without issue; two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth married first Sir Francis Astley of Hill Morton and Melton, knight, then Robert Digby, 1st Baron Digby (c. 1599–1642) (Irish peerage), and lastly Sir Robert Bernard, 1st Baronet, serjeant-at-law. Mary married Sir Francis Stydolph (d. 1655) and was the mother of Sir Richard Stydolph, Baronet.[2]

By his third wife, Helen Saunderson, Altham had no children.

Robert Altham, currently a circuit judge is one of his descendants.[3]

https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/aa/altham1.php#dau2

• A. James Altham, Sheriff of London then of Essex, 1st of Mark Hall (in Latton, Essex) (d 28.02.1583) m1. Elizabeth Blank (d 10.1558, dau of Thomas Blank of London, sister of Sir Thomas, Lord Mayor of London) Visitation shows Sir James as elder brother of Edward but BLG1886 shows them the other way round.
  • ii. Sir James Altham of Oxey Place, Hertfordshire (d 21.02.1606, [SIC: 1617] Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer)
  • m1. Margaret Skinner (dau/heir of Oliver Skinner)
    • a. Sir James Altham of Oxey m. Elizabeth Sutton (dau of Sir Richard Sutton of London (auditor), m2. Sir John Ashfield of Netherhall)
  • m2. Mary (dau of Hugh or Richard Stapers (not Stanes) of London)
    • b. Mary Altham m. Sir Francis Stidulph (b 1579-80, d 12.03.1655)
    • c. Elizabeth Altham (b c1601, d 03.01.1662-3) who apparently married ... m1. Sir Francis Astley of Hill Morton (d 14.05.1638) m2. Robert Digby, 1st Lord Digby of Geashill (d 06.06.1642) m3. Sir Robert Bernard, 1st Bart of Huntingdon (b 1601, d 1666)
    • d.+ other issue - Richard (dsp 1623), Susan

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Property

https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2014/04/118-altham-of-mark-hall...

Friday, 18 April 2014

(118) Altham of Mark Hall, Oxhey Place and Timbercombe

The Althams were prominent citizens of London in the 16th century. James Altham (d. 1583/4) purchased the Mark Hall estate in Latton (Essex) in 1562, where there was a large Tudor courtyard house in which he entertained Queen Elizabeth no less than three times in the 1570s. His eldest son became a Roman Catholic and was excluded from the succession on that account, so Mark Hall passed to his second son, Edward Altham (d. 1605). James's youngest son, Sir James Altham (c.1555-1617), became a successful lawyer and judge and he and his son, Sir James Altham (d. 1624) lived at Oxhey Place in Hertfordshire.

References

• The History of Parliament
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Altham Sir James Altham (died 1617) ... was the third son of James Altham of Mark Hall, Latton, in Essex, Sheriff of London in 1557–58, and sheriff of Essex in 1570, by Elizabeth Blancke, daughter of Thomas Blancke of London, Haberdasher, and sister of Sir Thomas Blanke, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1583.
• https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/aa/altham1.php#dau2
• A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great ..., Volume 1 By Bernard Burke. Page 24 GoogleBooks Has died 21 Feb 1606