THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE by M. Claire Cross

All through the reign of Elizabeth and for some decades after, Leicestershire was dominated by the Hastings family. No other could in any way approach its influence. Henry, third Earl of Huntingdon, as head of his family was the undisputed leader of the county. His autocracy was not resented. The Corporation of Leicester justly appreciated the advantages which could still accrue from the patronage of a great nobleman. Huntingdon on his side was conscious that his unchallenged supremacy brought obligations. To him the town and county owed two schools, the reorganisation of an old people's hospital, a library and various schemes to help and provide employment for the poor. Although he was often far from his native county during the last 23 years of his life when President of the Council in the North and fully occupied in national politics, in typical Elizabethan fashion no local Leicestershire event was ever too trivial to arouse his interest. So complete was the Hastings influence in Leicestershire by the second half of the sixteenth century that it is difficult to remember it was of relatively recent" creation. This cadet branch of the medieval family of Hastings had held the manor of Wistow and some other lands in Leicestershire from at least the thirteenth century; r but it seems to have settled in Yorkshire until William, Lord Hastings, in his highly successful career as Chamberlain to Edward IV re-established it in the south. His most important acquisitions in Leicestershire were the manors of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Kirby Muxloe and on each of these manors he built castles. 2 By the marriage of Edward, Lord Hastings, his son, to Mary, Lady Hungerford, very large estates in Somerset, Devon and Buckinghamshire came into the family. It was by no means certain that Ashby would remain the family home. Stoke Poges was in many ways more convenient. It was much nearer the court where George, Lord Hastings, created first Earl of Huntingdon in 1529, spent the greater part of his time. Francis, second Earl of Huntingdon, completely rebuilt the house at Stoke Poges.3 Debts prevented what might have been a further migration of the family southwards. The third Earl of Huntingdon had to provide both for his father's debts and for his large family. With an ever­ increasing momentum lands in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire were sold or mortgaged so that by the time of his death in 1595 there was no longer an alternative to Ashby as the centre of the family's influence. 6 THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE 7

The close political connection of the second Earl of Huntingdon with the Duke of Northumberland, cemented by the marriage in 1553 of Catherine Dudley to the young Henry, Lord Hastings, was in many ways responsible for increasing the participation of the family in local government in Leicestershire. In 1549 the second Earl was employed to put down a rebellion in the county,4 and from 1551 onwards during the reign of Edward VI he received several commisions of lieutenancy for Leicestershire and Rutland. 5 He was in command of some troops sent against Mary in July 1553.6 Yet Mary pardoned his treason and that of his son and in 1554 again appointed him to be Lord Lieutenant for Leicestershire, Rutland and Warwickshire.? His diligence in these counties at the time of Wyatt's rebellion justified the faith the Queen had placed in his loyalty. 8 During Mary's reign he seems to have spent an increasing amount of time in Leicestershire, though he was never excluded from the Court where his brother, Edward, Lord Hastings of Loughborough, was in high favour with the Queen. Elizabeth on her accession granted the second Earl a fresh commission of lieutenancy for Leicestershire, allowing him during his sick­ ness to depute his duties to his son.9 On the death of the second Earl of Huntingdon in June 1560, Henry, the third Earl, succeeded to his offices as automatically as he succeeded to his lands. Even before his father's death he had received from Mary the grant of the stewardship of the Prince's fee in Leicestershire. ro Elizabeth permitted Huntingdon when his uncle Edward, Lord Hastings of Loughborough, died to succeed also to his offices of Receiver of the Honour of Leicester in the counties of Leicester, Warwick, Northampton and Nottingham, and Steward of the town of Leicester, otherwise called Town Clerk.rr In 1591 Huntingdon resigned the office of Town Clerk in favour of his brother, Sir Edward Hastings, who was then living at Leicester Abbey.'2 In Huntingdon's case these offices would have been performed by deputy, the chief material benefit he derived from them coming from court fines. By 1560 the posts of Steward, Receiver of the Honour of Leicester and Town Clerk were considered the rightful perquisites of the Hastings family: they gave their holders authority to interfere in the government both of the town and county. Huntingdon also followed his father in offices which the Queen was far from considering hereditary. In 1562 he was first listed as a Jus,tice of the Peace and member of the Quorum for Leicestershire and Warwickshire.13 At the time of the Northern Rebellion he was created Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire and Rutland. 1 4 From 1569 in all times of emergency until his death he was in charge of the defence of Leicestershire. These various offices were both a recognition of the Hastings influence in the county and also a means by which that authority could be strengthened and assured. Huntingdon's control over Leicestershire was undoubtedly increased by the number of relations he had established in the county. Until her death in 1576 the dowager Countess of Huntingdon lived at Lubbesthorpe, one of the chief of her manors. 1 s Edward, Lord Hastings of Loughbo'rough, was at Loughborough where he occasionally acted with his nephew until he died in 1572. As he had no legitimate children Huntingdon was recognised as his heir. More dependable, because of his own generation, were Huntingdon's 8 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHROLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

four brothers. Sir George Hastings, the eldest, married Dorothy Porte, co­ heiress of her father's estates, and through her he came into possession of property in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. He made his home first at Lough­ borough and then at Castle Donington. 16 A soldier in earlier life taking part in the siege of Edinburgh and later eager for further service in Scotland, r7 Sir Edward Hastings, the second brother, also settled in Leicestershire. About 1580 he acquired Leicester Abbey18 and from there he was able to oversee the town when his brother was no longer in the county. Huntingdon's third brother, Sir Francis Hastings, took a very active part in local government in Leicestershire from about 1570 until 1582 when at his brother's request he went down to Somerset to manage his estates for him there. r9 When in Leicestershire he lived at Market Bosworth: in 1589 Huntingdon sold this manor to Sir Wolstan Dixie, having previously granted his brother the manors of North and South Cadbury in Somerset in compensation.20 Walter Hastings, the younger brother, seems never to have left Leicestershire but lived quietly on the manor of Kirby Muxloe which Huntingdon sold to him in 1582.21 Since Walter Hastings had been left under his father's will the manor of Braunstone22 he became by this sale the family's chief representa­ tive in Leicester Forest. On his mother's death Huntingdon himself had come into possession of the Forest manor of LU1bbesthorpe and he had other rights at Enderby. Throughout Elizabeth's reign the Hastings interest in the Forest was supreme.2 3 With five members of the Hastings family in Leicestershire at the same time, little room was left in local politics for other members of the nobility and gentry. The Greys of Groby were in eclipse : the head of the Hazleriggs of Noseley was for long a minor and that family did not become prominent until the next century. At Gracedieu the Beaumonts were distantly related to the Hastings. During the latter part of the sixteenth century there was no Leicestershire family which could compete with the Hastings. Huntingdon arranged marriages for one of his nephews with a daughter of Sir Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, for another with the daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton. He was a personal friend of the several Earls of Rutland.2 4 With these links with the leading families in the surrounding counties the local influence of the Hastings family was even further strengthened. From an early age Huntingdon assumed his part in the government of Leicestershire. In 1555, when he was not yet 20, the Town Chamberlains recorded his visit to Leicester to take the musters. 2 s In ,the next year he was "setting" the subsidy with Mr. Cave and in 1560-1 he attended the Assizes at Leicester with the judges of assize. 26 His father's sickness in the first two years of Elizabeth's reign gave him more responsibility than he might other­ wise have had. Within a few months of his accession to the earldom Hunting­ don was forced into prominence in local government. He had to deal with the problem of the revaluation of the coinage as it affected Leicestershire. Writing to the Privy Council he explained how he had carried out instructions to punish those who had refused to take testons at the value of 2¼d., but the result had been the withholding of goods from the markets. Huntingdon considered that only the speedy issue of new money could solve the difficulty. 27 THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE 9

Early in the 1560s Huntingdon bought the Lord's Place in the High Street, Leicester, and while he was in residence his control over the town increased. In some respects he came very near to usurping the authority of the Mayor. When a thief escaped from Leicester prison it was not the Mayor but Huntingdon who wrote from his house in Leicester to Kellam Digby to raise the towns and country round about and to inform the Justices of the neighbouring shires. 28 In 1568 he acted as arbiter in a case concerning the performance of a bargain specified in certain indentures, yet this came well within the jurisdiction of the Mayor, especially since both parties were Leicester men. 29 Matters which might affect national security were auto­ matically first reported to Huntingdon. Francis Cave of Baggrave, one of the Justices of the Peace for the county, informed him in 1571 of how a Scot who kept a school at Prestwold had been brought before him accused of having spoken against the Queen's treatment of Mary, Queen of Scots, and against the religion established in England.3° Huntingdon was thought of as the natural intermediary to pass on this information to Cecil and other members of the Privy Council. From his earliest years Huntingdon had been a convinced supporter o.f Protestantism.3' His hand can almost certainly be traced behind orders passed at the Common Hall in February 1562 that one member of every household in Leicester should attend sermons preached on Wednesdays and Fridays.3 2 A special seat was constructed for him in "my lorde's chapell" in St. Martin's church where these sermons were given,33 and it was with his advice two years later that the Common Hall fixed the times when the Wednesday and Friday leotures should be read.34 He hoped then (as he revealed in writing to the Corporation much later, when there was a dispute over the preacher's wages) that the men of Leicester would be those "that loved the gospel". There were discouragements, however: "I am not ignorant, neither do I forget, what notable hinderers some, that would make a fair show, were in my time when I was a dweller in your town".35 In both the town and county Huntingdon from his aocession to the earldom laboured to place reliable Protestant clerics. The Hastings advowsons he inherited were not many, but they brought him extensive authority. In 1560 Huntingdon owned seven presentations in the county, those of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Belton, Castle Donington, Markfield, Market Bosworth, Osgathorpe and Packington, ·and some time before 1570 he acquired the living of Loughborough from his uncle, Edward, Lord Hastings of Loughborough. Of these eight livings only three were worth officially more than £10 ;3 6 but two of them, the rectories of Loughborough and Market Bosworth, were among the six richest livings in the county.37 Both of the latter advowsons Huntingdon alienated before he died. Huntingdon consistently appointed graduates or at least men who had studied sometime at the university to his livings. Leaming and a virtuous life were the two essentials he required of those who sought them.3 8 Since the record of the visitation carried out by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1576 still exists, it is possible to see how far Huntingdon was able to put his ideals into practice in Leicestershire.39 The living of Belton was valued at £8 18s. 4d., yet John Bares, the vicar, although ignorant of Latin, was IO LEICESTERSHIRE ARCH.ltOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"moderately versed in sacred learning, a teacher in his benefice".4° The parson of Markfield, worth £6 Is. 8d., was "meanlie latined and better entered in the scriptures".41 At Castle Donington, in spite o.f the oure being valued only at £8 2s. 1d., Peter Wood was "a preacher in his own cure under­ standing the latine tong and competentlie learned in the scriptures".42 In 1604 the same Peter Wood, still at Castle Donington, was presented for not wearing the surplice, but he conformed and the case was disinissed. 43 Even Henry Presbury at Packington, the poorest of Huntingdon's livings and worth a mere £5 15s. rod., appeared as "indifferentlie learned in the latine tong and in the scripture".44 It seems that Huntingdon had chosen for these small parishes men who were fulfilling their duties adequately at a time when, according to Puritan sources, ignorance was rife among the lower clergy.4s The vicarage of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, although the stipend was no more than £14 ros. 5d., was a case apart. The clergy at Ashby during Elizabeth's reign probably did more than any others to determine the particular type of evangelical Protestantism widespread in Leicestershire. In 1576 Thomas Wydowes was vicar, "preacher licenced by the said Bisshop of Lichfield, not graduate brought up in Cambridg in St. Jones Collegge".46 He had been inducted in 1569 on the resignation of the previous incumbent,47 and is said to have been the son-in-law of Anthony Gilby.48 He certainly worked in closest co-operation with Gilby, who was probably never vicar of Ashby but only the lecturer there.49 Huntingdon enthusiastically approved of the joint Ininistry of Gilby and Wydowes at Ashby and when on Wydowes' death in 1593 he offered the living to Arthur Hildersham he exhorted him to take pains "that the good which father Gilbie and he [Wydowes ], by the good providence of God, have planted in and about Ashby, may be continued and increased".50 The achievement of Gilby and Wydowes at Ashby was indeed remark­ able. Gilby probably settled there soon after his return from Geneva early in Elizabeth's reign. It was entirely through his influence that Ashby became the headquarters for reform of the church within the county and beyond. Gilby had been one of the leaders of the English church at Geneva, and from Ashby he kept in close touch with his friends of the Marian exile. Bentham, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, meekly received his strictures upon the back-sliding Ininisters in his diocese and promised reformation.5' When the Vestiarian controversy was at its height Robert Beaumont received Gilby's castigations for turning back "to the toyes of Papery and Pulles of Superstition to the pleasure of men".s2 The resipect the more radical Protesrtant clergy in the Elizabethan Church paid to Gilby's opinions is very evident from their cor,respondence. Not only his old colleagues whose main objection was to the relics of Romanism left in the church, but also the new wing of young ministers much more interested in the Presbyterian form of church government consulted Gilby. In 1571 Field lamented he had no flock to teach in the church of Christ, incidentally apologising for having published Gilby's Short Epistle without his consent.53 The next year he besought him to work as a peacemaker among the zealots in whose ranks bitter quarrels had arisen.54 Lawrence Tomson and Lawrence Humphrey were both among Gilby's correspondents, and between 1573 and 1575 THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE I I

Thomas Wilcocks sent him accounts of the sufferings of the godly imprisoned in London.ss Although Gilby was in contact with the radicals he was not himself in sympathy with the new extreme Protestant departure of attempting reformation without waiting for the magistrate. He did not object to the church being governed by bishops, provided godly men were chosen as bishops. He counselled moderation to Sampson when he feared he might be among those who were taking it upon themselves to establish a platform of reformation.s6 In his later years Gilby was much more concerned about the welfare of his own flock at Ashby than with the disputes over church government. Before 1570 Exercises for improving the learning of the clergy had been set up at Ashby and approval obtained from the Bishop of Lincoln.s1 When the Queen commanded that these Exercises should be -banned in the province of Canterbury the ministers of Ashby vigorously protested to their bishop. They maintained they had always acted openly with the acquiescence of the diocesan authorities, although they were obliged to admit that the laity had crept in to witness these clerical colloquies.s8 It is not at all clear how extreme the Leicestershire assemblies were. The . Bishop of Lincoln wrote to Grindal in 1576 that he thought on the whole the Exercises had been very profitable in educating the clergy. Generally he had succeeded in ensuring that novel opinions were not discussed. Leicester, however, had proved obstreperous: "The worst place, and that which I have alwaies most suspected is Leicester town, where- indeed I understand that a Layman, but a Graduate and very handsomely learned,. but in Philosophie and the Scriptures, hath once or twice spoken, and one Johnson that is . . . main­ tained by a stipend of my Lord of Huntington, is somewhat a rash man, and so much as he dare, inclined to novelties, and so be one or two more in the shire".59 It had been in February 1571 that the Queen, at "the recommendation and at the petition of Henry Earl of Huntingdon", had presented Johnson to the living of St. Martin's.60 The Bishop of Lincoln made no mention of Gilby, but AyJmer reporting to Grindal from his benefice of Cossington only two months later had no doubts about his pernicious influence upon the church in the county. He described how "a rank of Rangers and Posting Apostles" had come out of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and elsewhere "to Ashby where Gilby is Bishop", to Leicester "where Johnson is Superintendent". "And there are Bishops rayled at, Metropolitans wondered at for their Visitations, for their officers, their pompe, their visiting and what not." Aylmer warned Grindal against placing too much confidence in the report he had received from the Bishop of Lincoln, alleging that the enquiry had been committed by him "to one Spark and Willoke who themselves never Minister the Communion because they will wear no surplices, and use standing Communions, with other disorders."61 It is not without significance that Robert Sparke in 1568 had been one of Huntingdon's chaplains,62 while Willock was rector of his living of Loughborough. In the face of the prohibition of prophesyings the Leicestershire zealots found a substitute in which religious instruction could proceed. Fasts were held increasingly before communions. In 1579 Gilby was approached by 12 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHA'.OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Archdeacon Squire of Market Bosworth, who had been presented to this living by Huntingdon, and by another Leicestershire minister, James Gosnell, to preach at fasts they intended to hold. 63 The result of Gilby's ministry is most evident in 1584 when over 300 Leicestershire clergy would only make a limited subscription to Whitgift's Three Articles, protesting in particular against certain ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer. 64 When Gilby and his sympathisers died Huntingdon continued to appoint men of similar beliefs in their places, even though men of the new generation of Presby­ terians were available. Arthur Hildersham who succeeded Thomas Wydowes at Ashby in 1593 felt the same scruples over the surplice as Gilby had done. Before he became vicar of Ashby he had already been brought before the High Commission for preaching at Ashby without a licence. 65 In 1596 it is known that he travelled as far as Burton-on-Trent to take part in an Exercise.66 By 1603 he had been forced to resign his living for nonconformity67 and for the rest of his career until his death inhibitions on his preaching were con­ tinually being lifted or reimposed. John Brinsley, who was both curate and master at Ashby school at the end of Huntingdon's life, was of exactly the same type. He was called before the Bishop of Lincoln in 1604 for refusing to wear the surplice or make the sign of the cross at baptism. For this he was deprived of his curacy, though he remained as master of the school until he lost this post also in 1619.68 Given his intense religious convictions, it was not difficult for a nobleman of Huntingdon's standing to influence the church in his own county. Once he had chosen clerics of sufficiently Protestant opinions he could leave them to carry out the work of reformation. In county politics a much more con­ tinuous supervision coupled with frequent interventions was necessary for Huntingdon to maintain his predominance. The year 1572 when he was appointed President of the Council in the North consequently marks a turning­ point in his influence in Leicestershire. Whereas previously he had been at hand whenever any matter of importance arose, now he had to manipulate the county by remote control. Huntingdon depended heavily on his brothers, who all undertook some duties he had carried out before. In the 1570s Sir Francis Hastings was particularly active. He was appointed a commissioner to inspect St. Peter's church, then derelict, which the Queen soon after allowed to be pul,led down and the materials used for building the Free School in 1573; in 1575 he sat as commissioner for the subsidy at the Blue Boar.69 The Privy Council requested him to send up a report on Leicester­ shire recusants in 1577 and the next year es,pecially singled him out for thanks for his pains.7° He was sheriff of Leicestershire in 1580.7' After Sir Francis left Leicestershire for Somerset Sir George Hastings took a larger part in county affairs. He notified the Privy Council in 1585 of the safe keeping of a recusant's armour,72 and was used by the Council to make a composition between a Leicester debtor and his creditors.73 Many times the Privy Council employed him to levy the subsidy and, in 1590, to enquire with Sir Edward Hastings into an outlaw's goods.74 Yet as the heir presumptive to the earldom, since Huntingdon had no children of his own, Sir George Hastings was not so prominent in Leicestershire government as he might have been expected to be. Politically he was not entirely reliable. There were suspicions that THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE l 3

he and his youngest brother Walter Hastings were recusants,75 and in 1586 John Palmer, a Catholic, was taken when staying at his house.7 6 There were no doubts, however, about Sir Edward and Sir Francis Hastings. They were as convinced and vigorous Protestants as Huntingdon himself.77 Although his brothers could act for him in Leicestershire in these many capacities the Government never dispensed with Huntingdon's services there. Year by year he was placed on the commission for the subsidy in Leicester­ shire, though from 1582 he was never present.7 8 In 1582 and 1591 he was appointed a commissioner to enquire for Jesuits and seminary priests. It was as a general overseer that he was particularly valued. Right up to his death he retained a responsibility for the defence of the country, even when he was at York. He was Lord Lieutenant in 1569, and from 1587 continuously until 1595: 79 when there was no Lord Lieutenant for the county he headed the list of commissioners for musters. Again his brothers acted as his deputies: Sir George Hastings in 1577, Sir Francis Hastings in 1580, and both brothers together in 1587.80 At the time of the Armada the Privy Council wrote to Sir George Hastings directly to countermand the sending of 500 men from the county,81 but normally Huntingdon was used as the inter­ mediary. The raising of a loan by privy seals in 1589 shows how this somewhat tortuous system worked. Sir George Hastings had great difficulty in securing loans in Leicester because of recent losses suffered by many from the cattle plague. He wrote to Huntingdon, who forwarded his brother's letter to the Privy Council together with his own suggestions. The Privy Council replied approving Huntingdon's proposal that several men should be allowed to join in contributing to one privy seal. Presumably Huntingdon then authorised his brother to levy the loan. 82 Huntingdon paid as much attention to the Leicestershire musters as he did to those held in the north where he was resident Lord Lieutenant. He bought the coats for the Leicestershire soldiers himself in 15 76. 83 The Hall Book of 15 90 records how 40 soldiers from Leicester were trained before the Earl of Huntingdon. 84 It is not surprising that when the town had a grievance over defence a direct complaint was made to Huntingdon. In 1590 the Corporation was indignant a,t being charged for 50 armed men when previously never more than 30 had been demanded.85 Again in 1595 the Mayor complained that the £20 entrusted to Sir George Villiers at the time of the Armada for the maintenance of 50 soldiers at Tilbury camp had never been accounted for. Huntingdon in reply sent orders for Sir George Hastings and Thomas Cave to investigate the matter and recover the money. 86 Whenever it was possible after 1572 the Corporation of Leicester still consulted Huntingdon on any matter of political or local importance. In October 1576 the Justices of the town informed him that William Norreys, their Mayor, had been committed to prison on a charge of falsifying the coinage. The Privy Council heard of the matter through Huntingdon and so sent out orders a week later. 87 It was owing to his advice given when he happened to be in Leicester in May 1584 that the Mayor seized one Grene and sent him up to Walsingham for distributing books critical of the Book of Common Prayer. 88 When there was a bad epidemic of plague in the town in 1593 which caused it to be sealed off from the rest of the county, it was to 14 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHlr.OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Huntingdon that the town appealed. The poor of Leicester had become destitute because of the confinement and they begged him to stir up the Justices of the county to collect distributions to maintain them. 89 In the following year he received a petition from the traders of Mountsorrel pro­ testing against their exclusion from Leicester market.9° The Corporation of Leicester sent a counter-petition to the Privy Council against th-is freedom being allowed. Huntingdon with Sir Edward Hastings and others was instructed to see that the ordinance against "foreigners" buying and selling in Leicester was observed.9 1 In the same way as Huntingdon retained his interest in the government of Leicestershire after he became President of the Council in the North, so he continued his benevolences to the county, and in fact most of his charities were made after 1572. His desire to see the young brought up in true religion made education his first concern. In 1567 he established a school at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, granting with Edward, Lord Hastings of Loughborough, certain lands in the town to Anthony Gilby and other feoffees for the per­ petual maintenance of a schoolmaster.9 2 At Leicester Huntingdon supervised the complete reorganisation of the Free School. It had been founded by a bequest left by Thomas Wyggeston and had always been closely linked with William Wyggeston's Hospital. It was apparently the one centre of religious reaction in the town. About 1563 John Pott who had been expelled from Merton College, Oxford, for hi·s Catholicism became schoolmaster at Leicester and later also Confrater of Wyggeston's Hospital. Pott only remained six years in the town before the opposition of Thomas Sampson, newly appointed Master of the Hospital, caused him to leave. He took one of his pupils, Arthur Faunt, with him and after a year at Oxford transported him to the Jesuit College at Louvain.93 It was probably this incident which caused Huntingdon to take special precautions concerning the religious education of the boys. In the statutes of the Leicester school, every page of which Huntingdon signed, it was ordained that as well as attending worship and sermons at St. Martin's or their own parish churches on Sundays "the schollers of the syxe foormes shall come to all sermons as well on the woorkinge daye as on the hollie day ... and the twoe chiefest foormes shall come to the dyvynytie exercyse called the phophecyinge, the schoolemaster comynge with them".94 In May 1574 Huntingdon conveyed certain rent charges of a total annual value of £66 13s. 4d. to Wyggeston's Hospital on condition that the Headmaster's salary should be increased from the £10 of the original foundation to £20, that two poor scholars at the Grammar School should receive £2 a year for five years and that £10 should be set aside for the finding of "certain scholars who should set their minds and apply them­ selves to the earnest study of divinity, and to become preachers of the Gospel of Christ in the Church of England".95 These gifts brought Huntingdon an overriding voice in the government of the school. In 1595 he sent a letter to "Mr. Maior touchinge the remoaving of Thomas Jesson the head ussher of the Schoole".96 The Corporation obediently complied with Huntingdon's wish and appointed his candidate, Robert Aston, in Jesson's place.97 Huntingdon completed his educational scheme in 1587 when he gave four of his richest livings, including that of Loughborough, to Emmanuel THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE I 5

College, Cambridge. So far as he was able he was ensuring that a student who had worked through the school and university helped by his scholarships should not be deterred from taking Orders for the lack of a living.98 In 1595 Huntingdon's nominee for a Fellowship at Emmanuel, Joseph Hall from Ashby School, was accorded the same preferential treatment that Robert Aston received from the Leicester Corporation,99 Huntingdon did not even forget the need for improving the education of those many clergy in Leicester­ shire who had not attended the university. Most probably in co-operation with Johnson, the vicar, he set up a library in St. Martin's church for their use. This library, which was certainly in existence by 1586,1°0 formed the nucleus for the Leicester town library moved to the Town Hall in 1635. While he was reforming the school and establishing it on a firm Protes­ tant foundation Huntingdon did not leave the Hospital undisturbed, the cause of the religious disaffection. Certainly with his approval, if not more active intervention, Thomas Sampson was made Master in 1567. 101 None could have been a more enthusiastic opponent of Catholicism than he. With the Mayor of Leicester and other Aldermen Huntingdon carried out a visita­ tion of the Hospital in 1568 by Royal Commission. 102 Four years later, at his special request, the Queen granted Huntingdon, Sir Ralph Sadler, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and George Bromley, Attorney General, authority to make new ordinances for the Hospital, which were confirmed by Act of Parliament in 1576. No longer was William Wyggeston's foundation, dedicated to St. Ursula, to "beare the name of any fancyed Saint or other superstitious name". The Confrater, the Master's deputy, in future was to be a preacher able to instruct the old people in their faith. Huntingdon made over a rent charge to the Hospital which supplemented the Confrater's salary by £30 a year on the condition that he undertook the duties of lecturer at St. Martin's, preaching there every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. By this rent charge he also gave the Master annually an extra £10 for himself and £6 13s. 4d. to buy gowns for the old people. 103 Huntingdon's benefactions to the town did not cease with the reorgan­ isation of the school and hospital. In the 1570s he began a scheme to provide cheap coal for the poor of Leicester. The details of the enterprise are not very clear, but he seems to have given £42 to be spent at the rate of £6 a year for seven years. 104 The Corporation used the money to buy coal and Huntingdon gave the services of his tenants to carry it free of charge to the town. It was then sold at low prices to the poor. Huntingdon also made an attempt to deal with unemployment in Leicester and was responsible for a plan to establish a clothing industry. In 1573 he brought over Thomas Bradgate, a clothier from Gloucester, who undertook to provide work for the Leicester poor. At Huntingdon's request the town agreed to lend him 100 marks for seven years. 10s A further loan was made in the following year, but by 1584 Bradgate was decayed. 106 Nevertheless Huntingdon was deter­ mined the work should continue. The Corporation submitted the name of another clothier for his approval who had promised to import some men from Norwich and to begin the manufacture of bays. 101 This scheme also failed. By 1592, however, a considerable amount of money had been made from selling coal to the poor and Huntingdon considered that this could be 16 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHROLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

lent profitably to yet another clothier, John Oarke.108 The Corporation did not immediately fall in with his plans, but Huntingdon persevered. He personally took bonds of Clarke for the security of the coal money,1°9 and in July the town formally agreed to lend the money to him.rr0 After Huntingdon's death the next generation looked back with awe at his gener­ osity and care for the town. In 1623 the Corporation commissioned a posthumous painting for their Council Chamber and attached an inscription setting out Huntingdon's munificence: J "This noble peere gave an hunndred markes a yeare forever to sundrie godly uses. As thirtie pounds to a publique preacher for the whole towne of Leicester. Ten pounds to the chiefe schoolemaster their. Tenn pounds to foure poore schollers and twentye nobles a yeare to the poore of Wigston Hospitall in Leister, besides many bookes for a librari and a stock of twentie poundes to provide coles at the best hand for the general good of the poore, and sundrie other greate favours which he did for this Corporation, 1623."rrr Undoubtedly one of the greatest favours Huntingdon did for the Cor­ poration was to give his support when the town was seeking its charter of incorporation and a grant of the fee farm of Crown property in Leicester from the Queen. In December 1585 Richard Archer, the town's legal agent, reported that he had found Huntingdon "their very good lord" in the matter: he had also consulted Mr. Hastings about the petition, which had had to be drawn up in a new form.rr 2 For the next three years the town repeatedly had recourse to Huntingdon for advice. In February 1587 Archer went to Greenwich to see Huntingdon, who had been keeping Christmas at Court. The next month he hired horses to take letters to him. In April he made a special expedition to Huntingdon at York, while in July he attended on him when he was staying at Theobalds. In April 1588 he found another journey to York necessary,II3 The Queen permitted a survey of royal property in Leicester to be made in the summer of 1587, naming Francis Hastings as one of the Commissioners.11 4 At last, in 1589, she was pleased both to incorporate the town and to make a grant of the fee farm of crown property at a fixed annual rent. Huntingdon's intervention, however, did not end then, for the Corporation proved to be very tardy in repaying Archer £100 which he claimed to have spent on the town's behalf. Much dispute arose over leases of the newly-granted fee farm lands. The town agreed to lease certain lands to Archer in part payment for his services, and then tried to withdraw from the undertaking.11s Huntingdon uncompromisingly took Archer's part and had no intention he should lose his merited reward. rr 6 The repeated directions Huntingdon sent from York in 1590 and 1591 could not bring about a settlement. Agreement was not reached until August 1592 when Huntingdon required the Corporation to submit to the orders laid down by Mr. Justice Beaumont and Mr. Parkyns, the Recorder,II7 This disagreement over the payment of Archer for his services was exceptional. Huntingdon assumed that his wishes would be respected, and they practically always were. As of right he took it upon himself to make nominations to several offices in the town as they fell vacant and to suggest THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE 17

fit recipients for leases of Corporation property. For example, on the same day as a letter was received from Huntingdon in his support, the Corporation granted a lease of the sheep-pens to a certain Simon Croft. " 8 Over the appointment of a Recorder, however, there was greater difficulty. Early in 1592 Huntingdon heard a rumour that Parkyns was about to resign and recommended Humphrey Purfrey, a member of the Council in the North, to succeed him. " 9 The Mayor replied that he thought Parkyns had not been driven so far because of the troubles in the town as to think of resigning: "althoughe he hathe hadd somme myslyke to see us disioyned [by] the populer factyon of one or two. And that some of us have been so unthanckfull to your lordshippe and others, that be deserved so greatlie to the benyfit of our towne, yf we could so use ytt". He hoped, consequently, that Huntingdon would agree to Parkyns remaining in office. 120 Whenever it was possible the town was all eagerness to perform Huntingdon's requests, but the political representation of the borough was a case apart. Traditionally the nomination of one or both burgesses lay with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 121 In September 1586 Huntingdon broke with custom and wrote to ask for the nomination of one of the burgesses. 122 The town, probably having in consideration its attempt to get a grant of the fee farm, was more than ready to have Sir Francis Hastings. Replying for Huntingdon, Roger Bromley explained that this was not the candidate his master had in mind since Sir Francis would in all likeli­ hood remain as Knight of the Shire. 123 The town had already received the names of two burgesses in "the Council's letters" and it does not appear that the name of one was dispensed with in order to return Huntingdon's unnamed candidate. This is the only recorded instance of Huntingdon inter­ vening in a Leicester borough election, but in the county the Hastings family was paramount. In five Parliaments between 1571 and 1597 Sir Francis Hastings represented the county: in 1584 and 1585 Sir George Hastings sat with his brother and in 1597 Sir Edward Hastings had the second seat. Through his perseverance Huntingdon was remarkably successful in moulding the town and county of Leicester to his will. He encountered no stolid opposition as his bother and great-nephe,w did later: 124 leaders in the locality could see that his schemes were largely in their interests and attuned to their opinions. Within a few years of his accession the religious persuasion of the whole county nicely mirrored Huntingdon's own. The relationship between Huntingdon and the town of Leicester still closely resembled that between a medieval· borough and its lord. The Corporation was most unwilling to act in any great matter without first consulting him. Huntingdon in his turn protected the town in its suits in London and by his charities did much to benefit its inhabitants. It was considered merely a fitting recompense that a wide range of patronage should have been open to him. The gifts so frequently made by the town to Huntingdon, and by Huntingdon to the town, symbolise a real friendship. 12s In other fields his mounting debts may have curtailed his influence, but in Leicestershire Huntingdon's character, combined with the importance of his office of President of the Council in the North, considerably increased the family's prestige throughout Elizabeth's reign. I8 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHl\'.OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NOTES

I. B[ritish] M[useum) Harl. MS. 3881,3. J. Nichols, History of the County of Leicester (1795-1815), ii. 869. 2. The manor of Ashby-de-la-Zouch was granted by the Crown in 1462. There is a fine on the octave of St. John the Baptist, 7 Edward IV, settling the manor on Sir William Hastings and his heirs. B.M. Harl. 3881, 16. On 6 May, 14 Edward IV, John Vylers confirmed the grant of the manor of Kirby Muxloe to William Lord Hastings and his heirs: ibid., f. 18. 3. By 1555 he had completed a "fair house" at Stoke Poges on the site of an earlier one: V.C.H. Bucks., iii. 302ff. 4. E. Lodge, Illustrations of British History (1838), i. 163. 5. J. R. Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council [cited below as A.P.C.], iii. 259. 6. Calendar of State Papers, Spanish, 1553, 86. 7. This appointment is among the many unindexed documents in the Hastings Manuscripts now in the Huntington Library, California, of which a microfilm has been obtained. 8. B.M. Egerton 2986, f. 11. Huntingdon captured the Duke of Suffolk and some of his party. 9. Bodleian Library, Carte MS. 78 f. 137. 10. Cal. of Patent Rolls, Mary, 1557-8, 147. 11. Hastings MS. Huntington Library (microfilm). The grant was made in 1572. 12. Leicester Mus. Box 3A, no. 3. 13. Cal. Patent Rolls, Elizabeth, 1560-3, 439. 14. H[istorical] M[anuscripts] C[ommission] Reports, Salisbury, i. 443. 15. The Corporation of Leicester sent her a gift of wine when Mistress Mary [Hastings] and her sister went to visit their mother in 1565 and 1569. Leicester Mus. 20 D.52/30. Oiamberlains' Accounts, 1565-6, and 1568-9. 16. In 1590 he bought the Great House at Loughborough. P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice] C.54/1349. 17. Cal. State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, 1571-4, 494. 18. Before Sir Edward Hastings bought it, it is uncertain who was the actual owner of Leicester Abbey. Huntingdon claimed it, but in 1572 the Queen apparently granted it to Hatton. Huntingdon may have bought out his claim. Bodleian, Carte MS. 78, f. 278 and 289 f. 57 and microfilm of Hastings MS. in Huntington Library. 19. Hastings MS. Huntington Library (microfilm). 20. P.R.O. C.66/1327 and C.66/1281. 21. P.R.O. C.66/1221. 22. P.R.O. E.150/II58/2. 23. L. Fox and P. Russell, Leicester Forest (1948), 73 ff. 24. H .M.C. Rutland, i. 93-4. 25. He was presented with the customary gift of wine on this occasion. Leicester Mus. 20 D52/21. Chamberlains' Accounts, 1555-6. 26. ibid., Chamberlains' Accounts, 1557-8, 1560-1. 27. P.R.O. S.P. 12/ 14/49, Huntingdon to Cecil, 29 Nov. 1560. 28. B.M. Egerton 2986, f. 16, 16 Jan. 1562/3. 29. Hastings MS. Huntington Library (microfilm). 30. Cal. State Papers Scotland, 1569-71, 460. 31. I have dealt more fully with Huntingdon's influence in the Elizabethan church at large in an article in the Historical Journal, iii (1960), r. 32. Leicester Mus. Hall Book, iii. 78. 33. T . North, Chronicle of St. Martin's Church, Leicester (1866), 163. 34. Leicester Mus. Book of Acts, 1488-1581. 35. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 25. 20 D52. . 36. The valuation quoted is in every case the Henrician valuation of 1535. This continued to be used for purposes of taxation throughout Elizabeth's reign. With the rise in prices the real value of livings was usually much in excess of the official figure. Dr. H. G. Owen in his thesis "The London parish clergy in the reign of Elizabeth" (London Ph.D. thesis, 1957, 321 ff.) has shown that between 1535 and 1638 the income of London livings had risen from three to sevenfold. The actual increase varied considerably from parish to parish. 37. There were six livings in Leicestershire worth more than £40 a year: Market Bosworth, Great Bowden, Bottesford, Church Lar:igton, Belgr:ive ~d Loug_h­ borough (in order of official value). W. G . Hoskms, Essays in Leicestershire History (1950), 2. THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE 19

38. Huntingdon set out the qualifications patrons should require of candidates for livings in the preamble to the deed by which he granted four livings, including that of Loughborough, to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 19 Jan. 1586. Emmanuel College Treasury Box 1. A2. 39. The Liber Cleri of 1576 of Lincoln is printed in C. W. Foster, State of the Church, Lincoln Record Society, xxxiii (1926), 34. 40. Liber cleri, f. 2. 41. ibid., f. 3d, 42. ibid., f. 2. 43, Foster, op. cit., p. cxxxii. It is possible that Peter Wood was related to Thomas Wood the active Puritan living at Groby. See P. Collinson, "The authorship of A Brieff Discours off the Troubles begonne at Franckford": Journal of Ecclesiastical History, ix (1958). 44. Liber cleri, f. 2. 45. "A Supplication to her Majesty in Parliament" (1571 or 1572). Printed in . A. Peel, Seconde parte of a Register (1915), 75. 46. Liber cleri, f. 2. The Christian name John is given there in error for Thomas. 47. Leicester Mus. Induction mandate. 1 D.41/28/132. His predecessor is not named. 48. D[ictionary] of N[ational] B[iography], xxi. 339. 49. Foster, op. cit., 33. In the D.N.B. Gilby is said to have been vicar of Ashby but no reference is given. The only time when he could have been vicar is between 1560 and 1569 when Wydowes was instituted. Unfortunately there is a complete absence of ecclesiastical records concerning Ashby both at Lincoln and Leicester for these ten years. It is possible that Gilby refused preferment in the Elizabethan church because of his scruples over vestments. See P. Collinson, "The Puritan Classical Movement" (London Ph.D. thesis, 1957), 25. 50. B. Brook, Lives of the Puritans (1813), ii. 380, note, Huntingdon to Hildersham, 5 July 1593. 51. C[ambridge] U[niversity] L[ibrary] Mm. 1.43 (Baker 32), 434. I owe this reference to Dr. Collinson. 52. ibid., 427-430, Beaumont to Gilby, 25 Jan. 1565-6. 53. ibid., 447. 54. ibid., 442. 55. ibid., 441 ff. 56. ibid., 443. 57. Collinson, "Puritan Classical Movement", 190. 58. B.M. Add. MS. 27632, f. 47. I owe this reference also to Dr. Collinson. 59. B.M. Add. MS. 29546, f. 42. 60. C. W. Foster, Episcopal Records in the Time of Thomas Cooper, Lincoln Record Society, ii (1912), 317. 61. B.M. Add. MS. 29546, f. 57. 62. P.R.O. S.P. 12/76, f. 45. 63. C.U.L. Mm. 1.43 (Baker 32), 436-7. 64. Collinson, "Puritan Classical Movement," 431 and 458, quoting from Rylands English MS. 874, f. 39. 65. Brook, Lives of the Puritans, ii. 376-88. 66. Collinson, "Puritan Classical Movement", u74. 67. Lincoln, Episcopal Act Book, No. 30. 68. C. W. Foster, State of the Church, p. cxxvii. 69. Leicester Mus. 20 D .52/30. Chamberlain's Accounts 1572-3 and 1574-5. 70. P.R.O. S.P. 12/117/19 and 34; A.P.C., x. 400. 71. He was amerced in 1581 for £5, £10 and 40s. for sending insufficient returns into the Exchequer: P.R.O. Ind. 6928 Repertory to the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Roll. E 368/ 423, rot. 96 and E 368/ 425, rot. 84. 72. P.R.O. S.P. 12/183/29. . 73. A.P.C., xv. 150. 74. P.R.O. E.159/395. Trinity clxxi, and A.P.C., xx. 165. 75. B.M. Lansdowne, 99. 92. 76. P .R.O. S.P. 12/193/ 50. Camden relates h?w the children_ of t~e second E~rl of Huntingdon though they lived together 111 brotherly amity did not agree 111 matters of religion: Annals (1717), 76. . 77. See especially the letter of Sir Francis Hastings to Sir Edw_ard ~~stings warn111g him against Martin Marprelate's excesses: H.M.C., Hastings, 11. 39-40. 78. Leicester Mus. Hall Books, ii and iii. The subsidy commissions are given here in full for the years 1582, 1586, 1588, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1594 and 1595. Huntingdon is always included on the list. 20 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHltOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

79. H .M.C., Salisbury, i. 443 (for 1569 Commission) ; P.R.O. C66/1320 dorso (for 1587 Commission). So. H .M.C., 8th Report, 417. 81. A.P.C., xvi. 22r. 82. ibid., xvii. 317. 83. On 23 Jan. 1575/6? (the date is not quite clear) Huntingdon forwarded a bill to Thomas Cave for the coats. Hastings MS. Huntington Library (microfilm). 84. Leicester Mus. Hall Book, iii. 44. 85. ibid., Hall Papers, ii. 319. 86. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 54. 87. A.P.C., xi. 290. 88. Leicester Mus. Hall Papers, i. 29. 89. ibid., iv. l I. 90. ibid., iii. 94. 91. A.P.C., XXV. 89. 92. B.M. Harl. MS. 4774, 135. Dugdale transcribes "Kilby", but Gilby is certainly intended. In the Charity Commissioners' Report of 1839, Parliamentary Report 32nd Part V, 328, these lands were said to have been then worth £u 4s. 8d. per annum. 93. M. C. Cross, The Free Grammar School of Leicester (1953), u-12. 94. ibid. There "The Statutes and Orders for the Government of the Free Grammer Schoole of Leicester" (Leicester Mus. 3D. 42. 91) are printed in full. 95. ibid., 22. 96. Leicester Mus. Hall Book, iii. 92. 97. Cross, op. cit., 50. 98. The deed whereby Huntingdon made this grant was dated 19 Jan. 1586/7. Emmanuel College Treasury Box I. A2. 99. Joseph Hall, Works (1808 ed.), p. xxiii. 100. T. North (ed.), Accounts of the Churchwardens of St. Martin's, Leicester (1884), 132. IOI. The Earl of Leicester seems to have taken the initiative in this matter, but the appointment is hardly likely to have taken place without the concurrence of his brother-in-law. 102. P.R.O. Duchy of Lancaster Special Commissions, 44. No. 179. 103. Huntingdon's grant in trust to the Master of Wyggeston's Hospital in 1576 of rent charges in Leicester of £66 13s. 4d. yearly value gathered together in one deed his several benefactions to the town. £20 of this sum was to go annually to the Master of the Free School, to augment his salary and to provide scholar­ ships, the residue went to the Hospital, the Confrater receiving £30, the Master £10 and the old people £6 13s. 4d. a year. P.R.o.·c.54/1003. 104. Leicester Mus. Hall Book, ii. 31r. 105. ibid., Book of Aces, 1488-1581, 64. 106. ibid., Hall Book, ii. 229. 107. ibid., Hall Papers, i. No. 30 and 31. 108. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 32. 109. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 32. and 40. 110. ibid., Hall Book, iii. 68. 111. The portrait still hangs in the Mayor's Chamber at the Guildhall. 112. Leicester Mus. Hall Papers, i. no. 156. "Mr. Hastings" is almost certainly Francis Hastings, who had not yet been knighted. He was most probably in London about this time on Huntingdon's business. In March of the next year when about to return to Somerset he wrote to the Mayor of Leicester that he had seen Archer but had not yet had opportunity of serving the town. Leicester Mus. Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 10. 113. ibid., B.R. II/ 10/ 4. Archer's bill of expenses over the Town's suit. 114. ibid., Hall Papers, i. no. 257. 115. ibid., Hall Papers, ii. no. 320. n6. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 29. n7. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 45. 20 D .52. 118. ibid., Hall Book, ii. 349. 119. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 34. 120. ibid., Hall Papers, iii. no. 53. 121. ibid., Portfolio of Letters, ii. 5. 48. In 1593 Sir Thomas Heneage asked to have the choice of both burgesses for Leicester as he claimed his predecessors in the office of Chancellor of the Duchy had done. 122. ibid., ii. 5. 15. THE THIRD EARL OF HUNTINGDON AND ELIZABETHAN LEICESTERSHIRE 21

123. ibid., ii. 5. 16. 124. H.M.C. 8th Report, 433, and C. Ellis, History in Leicester (1948), 65. 125. Between 1555 and 1596 there is only one year in which the Chamberlain of Leicester did not make some gift to Huntingdon or one of his brothers. These gifts were always in kind, not money, and included fish, game and meat, as well as, more commonly, presents of sugar and wine. When Huntingdon went shooting in 1564 he presented the town with a buck, and there is some evidence that an annual feast grew out of his presents to the town. Leicester Mus. 20 D.52/21-60; Chamberlains' Accounts 1555-1596.