Sir John Norreys, MP

Family and Education b. by 1502, 1st s. of Edmund Norris of Fifield by Alice, da. of John Fowler of Fifield. m. by 1523, Mary, da. and coh. of Henry Staverton of Bray, 2s. inc. William† 5da.1

Offices Held Gent. usher, the privy chamber by 1536, principal gent. usher July 1553-8 or later; keeper, Foliejon park, Windsor park, Berks. 1536-d., Ashridge, Bucks. 1545; j.p. Berks. 1538-58/59; comptroller of works, Windsor castle 24 July 1538-d.; commr. relief, Berks. and Windsor 1550, chantries 1553, goods of churches and fraternities 1553; gent. usher of the Black Rod and the order of the Garter 1554-d.2

Biography John Norris, the second of his line at Fifield, came of a cadet branch of the Norris family of Speke, Lancashire, and was a kinsman of Henry Norris of Bray, Berkshire. Although the details of his career are obscured by the existence of several contemporary namesakes, its main outlines are clear. It was spent mainly in the royal household, of which he had probably been a member for some time before he appears as a gentleman usher in January 1536. During the next ten years he had a number of grants of lands and offices. Under Edward VI he remained an usher and was on a number of Berkshire commissions, including that of the peace.3

Norris corresponded with Lady Lisle during the late 1530s about the welfare of her son James Bassett. Doubtless it was through Bassett, a trusted servant of Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester that Norris obtained the clerkship of the episcopal castle at Taunton by September 1549 and that he was elected for Downton and Taunton, two of the bishop’s boroughs, to Mary’s first three Parliaments; his name was added to the indenture for Downton in March 1554 in a different hand. As Morris was one of the mourners at the funeral of Gardiner, who died while Parliament was in session, it is possible that Morris represented Taunton in the fourth Parliament of the reign, but in the absence of the original return this must remain a matter for speculation. According to Edward Underhill he was a ‘rank papist’, and as such was promoted at Mary’s accession to be principal gentleman usher of the privy chamber. In May 1554 he gained another mark of the Queen’s personal favour by being made usher of the Black Rod. He was appointed gentleman usher to King Philip in June 1554, and helped to organize the royal wedding at Winchester. For his nomination at Bodmin he was probably indebted once more to Bassett since his fellow-Member, Sir Walter Hungerford, was Bassett’s brother-in-law.4

On the accession of Elizabeth, Norris was summoned to Hatfield, perhaps to give advice on the new Household. He remained in the new Queen’s service— at least in her first year— but took little further part in public affairs. He appears to have retired eventually to Fifield, and died on 30 Jan. 1577, leaving a house there and other property in Berkshire. Later in the same year his younger son Henry, then living at Bray, was reported as a Catholic.5

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558 Author: Roger Virgoe Notes 1. Date of birth estimated from marriage. Vis. Berks. (Harl. Soc. lvi), 23, 131; (lvii), 55, 184; C142/176/2. 2.LP Hen. VIII, x-xii, xviii, xx; CPR, 1547-8, p. 81; 1550-3, p. 392; 1553, pp. 351, 413; 1553-4, pp. 17, 28, 113, 116; Stowe 571, f. 50v; E101/423/12, pt. 2, ff. 8, 12; The King’s Works, iii. 415. 3.LP Hen. VIII, x, xii, xvi, xxi; CPR, 1550-3, p. 142 et passim; Stowe 571, ff. 30, 50v, 59-59v. 4.LP Hen. VIII, xv; Letters of Stephen Gardiner, ed. Muller, 514; Eccles. 2/155889, 155891; C219/22/93; Chron. Q. Jane and Q. Mary (Cam. Soc. xlviii), 128; CSP Span. 1554, p. 297; APC, v. 39. 5.APC, vii. 4; C142/176/2; Cath. Rec. Soc. xxii. 86.

• 'Sir John Norreys (c. 1481 – 21 October 1564) was an important member of the English court during the reign of the House of Tudor.
• Family
• 'Probably born at Yattendon Castle, John was the eldest son of Sir Edward Norreys (d. 1487) and Frideswide Lovell, sister and heiress of Lord Lovell. He was named after his great grandfather Sir John Norreys, who had established this branch of the Norreys family as extensive landowners in the county of Berkshire. The Norreys family members often held positions of importantance at the English court.
• 'John's father Edward, the eldest son and heir of Sir William Norreys, had taken part in the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487, dying shortly afterwards. John was then his grandfather's heir, and succeeded to the Norreys family estates upon the old man's death in 1507. The estates included major residences such as Yattendon Castle and Ockwells and minor lands like Norreys Manor in Wokingham. Murderer
• 'In 1517, John murdered one John Enhold of Nettlebed in unknown circumstances. He was fined 1,000 marks and had to surrender Ockwells. In return by his brother, Henry, obtained a pardon for him. His uncle, Sir Thomas Fettiplace, took possession of Ockwells.
• Marriage
• 'John married Elizabeth Braye (born c. 1490), daughter of John Braye of Eaton Bray, whose family was as important in England as the Norreys family. Elizabeth's brother, Edmund Braye (d. 1539), was the 1st Baron Braye, a title created for him in 1529. Her brother, Edward Braye (d. 1558), was a Member of Parliament. The couple was childless.
• Royal associations
• 'John rose in favour at Court, perhaps with the help of his mother, and became the Esquire of the body of King Henry VII, and later the usher of the outer chamber to both King Henry VIII and King Edward VI. Described as "a rank papist", he was later promoted to be chief usher of the privy chamber to Queen Mary Tudor. He retired to Ashampstead upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth.
• 'In 1520, John entertained King Henry VIII, his Queen Catherine of Aragon, and the lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn, at Yattendon Castle.
• Later life
• 'When John's younger brother, Sir Henry Norreys, was beheaded in 1536 for his supposed adultery with the queen, Anne Boleyn, John and his wife, Elizabeth, took over the care of Henry's orphaned children Henry and Mary. Having no children of his own, John was licensed to settle his estates in reversion on his nephew in December 1542.
• References
• David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History: Sir John Norreys (d. 1563)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Norreys_(Usher_of_the_Chamber)
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• 'Sir John Norris1
• M, #149997
• Last Edited=4 Jun 2008
• ' Sir John Norris married unknown daughter Bray, daughter of John Bray.1
• Citations
• 1.[S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 492. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p15000.htm#i149997
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• 'John NORREYS of Yattendon (Sir)
• 'Born: ABT 1484
• 'Died: 1563
• 'Notes: Esquire of the body of Henry VII, and was afterwards usher of the outer chamber both to Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was afterwards promoted, as ‘a rank papist’, to be chief usher of the privy chamber to Queen Mary. He married Elizabeth, sister of Edmund, Lord Bray; but dying, according to Dugdale, on 21 Oct 1564, left no legitimate issue, and his property descended to his brother's son.
• Father: Edward NORREYS (Sir)
• Mother: Frideswide HOLLAND
• 'Married 1: Elizabeth BRAY
• '¿Married 2: Catherine HOWARD?
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/NORREYS.htm#John NORREYS of Yattendon (Sir)
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