| 1 |
Grocer, elected Sheriff, August 1st, 1570. Chosen Alderman of Billingsgate,
December 14th, 1570; subsequently removed to Queenhithe; resigned, June 1st, 1581. |
| 2 |
Ironmonger, Son of Thomas Rowe, of Penshurst, Kent, elected Alderman of Castle
Baynard, June 27th, 1581; Sheriff, August 1st, 1582; Lord Mayor, 1592. He was sworn
into office at the Tower of London, the customary pageantries being dispensed with on the
occasion, on account of the Plague then raging in London. He was five times Master of
the Ironmongers' Company between 1583 and 1590; President of Bridewell Hospital, 1593.
Peter Houghton, Grocer, elected Alderman of Castle Baynard loco Sir W. Rowe deceased,
November 20th, 1593. Stow says Sir W. Rowe was buried in the Church of St. Lawrence
Jewry. Other members of the Rowe family also served the office of Lord Mayor, and were
buried in Old Hackney Church. For Pedigree, see Nicholls's History of the Ironmongers'
Company,' second edition, page 530. |
| 3 |
Grocer, chosen Alderman of Castle Baynard, July 12th, 1576; elected Sheriff,
August 14th, 1577. |
| 4 |
Sir Thomas Skinner, Clothworker, elected Alderman of Bishopsgate, 27th September,
1587; Sheriff, 1587; removed to Cripplegate, July 26th, 1596; Lord Mayor, 1596. He died
in office, December 31st, 1596. Robert Hampson, Merchant Tailor, was elected Alderman in
his stead, February 10th, 1597. |
| 5 |
Haberdasher, elected Alderman of Tower, November 16th, 1585; Sheriff, 1584;
removed to Candlewick, February 17th, 1592. Lord Mayor loco Sir Thomas Skinner, Knight,
deceased, December 31st, 1596. He was presented and sworn before the Lieutenant of the
Tower, January 11th, 1597. Died, November 22nd, 1606. Sir John Garrard, Knight,
elected Alderman in his stead, December 22nd, 1606. President of St. Thomas's Hospital,
1594, till his death. He was the son of Roger Billingsley, of the City of Canterbury. Was
educated at Cambridge University, and studied for some time at Oxford, but never graduated.
Was an excellent mathematician, and was assisted in his scientific pursuits by the celebrated
Dr. John Dee. He was the first translator of Euclid into English. A copy of the original
edition, dated 1570, and "printed by John Daye, dwelling over Aldersgate beneath St.
Martin's, and sold at his shop under the gate," is in the Guildhall Library. He resided at
Blanchappleton, near Aldgate. Was one of the Queen's four "Customers," or farmers of
the Customs of the Port of London. Married firstly Elizabeth Boorne, by whom he had a
numerous family; secondly, Bridget, second daughter of Sir Christopher Draper, Lord
Mayor in 1566. He was buried in the Church of St. Catherine Coleman, to the poor of
which Parish he left 200l. He founded and endowed three Scholarships at St. John's
College, Cambridge. |
| 6 |
Grocer, elected Alderman for the Ward of Queenhithe, May 24th, 1603; ordered to
be committed to Newgate for refusing to take the oath of an Alderman, June 10th, 1603;
sworn into office, June 21st, 1603; chosen Sheriff, June 24th, 1603; Knighted at Whitehall,
July 26th, 1603; Lord Mayor, 1613; removed to Coleman Street Ward, March 22nd, 1613;
President of Bridewell and Bethlem Hospitals, 1613; M.P. for London, 1624–5. Sir
Maurice Abbott elected Alderman of Coleman Street, loco Sir T. Middleton, deceased,
September 13th, 1631. His pageant, on his accession to office as Lord Mayor, entitled "The
Triumphs of Truth," was written by Thomas Middleton: a copy is preserved in the Guildhall
Library. He was the eldest Son of Richard Middleton, Esq., Governor of Denbigh Castle
during the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. He was the founder of the
family of Myddleton, of Chirk Castle, from whom are descended Robert Myddleton
Biddulph, Esq., formerly M.P. for Herefordshire, and Major-General Sir Thomas Myddleton
Biddulph, K.C.B., Privy Purse to the Queen. The New River, of which his younger
brother, Sir Hugh, was the projector, was completed and opened with great ceremony
on the day of his election as Lord Mayor, 29th September, 1613. He was a liberal benefactor to the Grocers' Company, as was also his wife, Dame Anne Middleton. For an
account of the Family of Myddleton, see Smiles's 'Engineers,' vol. i. |
| 7 |
Merchant Taylor, elected Alderman of Walbrook, October 18th, 1593; Sheriff, 1594;
removed to Cordwainer, July 31st, 1599; Lord Mayor, 1602; removed to Langbourn, April
20th, 1602; Knighted, May 22nd, 1603. Sir John Watts removed to Langbourn, loco R. Lee,
Knight, deceased, January 28th, 1605. He was the Son of Humphrey Lee, of Bridgenorth,
Salop, and was Lord Mayor when James I. was invited to assume the Crown of England.
Chamberlayne, in his 'Present State of Great Britain,' says he subscribed first before all the
great Officers of State and Nobility, being said to be, on the death of the Queen, the prime
person of England. James addressed a letter from Holyrood, dated March 28th, 1603, to
him and the Aldermen and Commons, thanking them for proclaiming him. This is given in
Nichols's Progresses of King James I.,' vol. i., page 41. Sir Robert Lee, as Mayor, with
the Aldermen, Chief Officers, and Common Council of the City, and 500 Citizens of London,
well mounted, clad in velvet coats, and chains of gold, met the King at Stamford Hill, on the
7th of May, 1603, and conducted him to the Charterhouse. He attended, with the Aldermen
and twelve of the principal Citizens, at the King's Coronation at Westminster, July 25th,
1603. He left 100l. to the poor of his native place. |
| 8 |
Goldsmith, elected Alderman of Farringdon Within, May 29th, 1578; Sheriff, 1581;
Lord Mayor for remainder of the year, on the decease of Sir Martin Calthorpe, May 5th,
1589; again on the decease of Sir Cuthbert Buckle, July 1st, 1594; President of Christ's
Hospital, 1593–1602; removed to Bread Street Ward, loco Barnham, May 2nd, 1598; displaced from office, August 31st, 1602. The reasons assigned were his poverty and imprisonment for debt; that 1,000 marks had been previously given to him, on condition of his
surrendering his office, and that, notwithstanding the receipt of the money, he had refused to
resign. He had a residence at Tottenham, where, in October 1581, he entertained Mr.
Recorder Fleetwood, when that officer was inquiring into a Riot on the River Lea. His
daughter Dorcas married Sir Julius Cæsar, Master of the Rolls, February 26th, 1582. |
| 9 |
Draper, Knighted by King James I. at Whitehall, July 26, 1603; elected Alderman
of Bishopsgate, December 22nd, 1603; served the office of Sheriff, 1604; Lord Mayor,
1614; removed by prerogative to Cornhill, loco Sir Henry Rowe, January 7th, 1612. John
Leman removed to Cornhill, loco Sir Thomas Hayes, deceased, October 8th, 1617. He was
the Son of Thomas Hayes of Westminster. He died in 1617, and was buried in St. Mary's,
Aldermanbury, September 29th. For the inscription upon his monument, see Stow, edit.
1720, book 3, page 72. He was twice married; Martha, his second wife, subsequently
married Sir Richard Young, Knight. His daughter Mary married Sir Henry Boothby, Bart.,
ancestor of Sir Brooke Boothby, of Broadlow Ash, Derby, the present Baronet. His
daughter Margaret married Peter, fourth Son of Sir John Egerton, of Egerton and Oulton, in
the County of Cheshire. His daughter Elizabeth married John Ireland, Esq., of the Hutt,
Lancashire. |
| 10 |
Knighted by James I., 1607; elected Alderman of Bread Street, November 12th, 1611;
created a Baronet, 1st July, 1620, and afterward made Viscount Campden by Charles I.,
1628. See Burke's Peerage; Orridge's Citizens and their Rulers,' pp. 171–4 and 196–9. |
| 11 |
Nicholas Blincoe, Leatherseller, served the office of Master of his Company, 1602–3;
elected Alderman of Aldgate, July 2nd, 1607. Richard Farrington, elected Alderman of
Aldgate, loco Blincoe, discharged October 13th, 1607. |
| 12 |
Probably addressed to Henry Violet, Fishmonger; elected Alderman of Farringdon
Without, November 22nd, 1608. |
| 13 |
Appointed, in 1587, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King James I. He was
made Master of the Great Wardrobe in England, in 1608; and died 23rd May, 1612, at his
official residence in Blackfriars. A descendant of a Cheshire family. His first wife,
Mary Stuart, Daughter of Lord Ochiltree, was a kinswoman of the King. He was buried
in the Church of Cranford, Middlesex, where a monument to his memory exists. |
| 14 |
Of Canons, Middlesex; educated at Clare Hall, Oxford; Amannensis to Sir Francis
Walsingham; sent to Scotland, in 1603, to inform King James I. of the state of the kingdom,
by whom he was Knighted, May 20th, 1603; made a Privy Councillor, March 29th, 1614;
Secretary of State, January 3rd, 1616; tried in the Star Chamber, February 13th, 1619, for
calumnies against the Countess of Exeter, and committed to the Tower, with his wife Mary
(eldest Daughter of Sir William Rider, Lord Mayor in 1600) and his daughter. He
acknowledged his guilt, and was subsequently restored to favour, 1620. The story is given
in Burke's 'Extinct Peerage,' edit. 1866, page 312. He died September 17th, 1630. He
was the ancestor of General Lord Lake. See Orridge's 'Citizens and their Rulers,' page 201. |
| 15 |
Ironmonger, elected Alderman of Farringdon Within, April 19th, 1621; discharged,
upon his own request, May 18th, 1621. He was a Turkey Merchant. |
| 16 |
Haberdasher, the Son of John Jones, of Claverley, in the County of Salop. Chosen
Sheriff, June 25th, 1610; Alderman of Aldgate, July 18th, 1610; Lord Mayor, 1620;
resigned, January 22nd, 1621. The Pageant performed at the cost of his Company, upon his
taking office, was written by John Squire, and entitled "Tes Irenes Trophæ," or "The
Triumphs of Peace": a copy is preserved in the Library of the Corporation. |
| 17 |
Merchant Taylor, elected Alderman of Bishopsgate, September 24th, 1622; discharged upon payment of a fine of 500 marks, September 30th, 1622. |
| 18 |
William Herbert, third Earl, K.G., Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and
Lord Chamberlain of the Household; succeeded his father, Henry, second Earl, in 1601;
died without issue, 10th April, 1630. |
| 19 |
Apothecary, one of the first Assistants of that Company after their separation from
the Grocers in 1617. He resided in Blackfriars. Chosen Alderman of Dowgate, January
17th, 1625–6. On his making oath that he was an alien, born at Rheims, and on the
King's request, signified by the Earl of Pembroke, he was excused; he thereupon freely
promised to give 30l. for the relief of the poor in Christ's Hospital, which the Court of
Aldermen accepted. A Bust and Portrait of him are preserved at Apothecaries' Hall. |
| 20 |
Sir Edward Conway, knighted by Robert, Earl of Essex, at the sacking of
Cadiz, 1596; made one of the Secretaries of State by James I., January 14th, 1622–3;
raised to the Peerage as Baron Conway, March 22nd, 1624; appointed Captain of the Isle of
Wight, November 30th, 1624; created Viscount, June 6th, 1626, and made President of the
Council shortly afterwards. He died in 1630. |
| 21 |
Richard Coxe, Grocer, elected Alderman of Castle Baynard, November 20th, 1621;
chosen Sheriff, June 24th, 1622, but did not serve, on the ground of the insufficiency of his
estate. Sir II. Handford, Grocer, elected Alderman in his room, August 13th, 1622. |
| 22 |
Grocer, elected Alderman of Cordwainer, June 23rd, 1629; Sheriff, June 24th,
1629; Lord Mayor, 1640. Sir William Acton had been elected Mayor for this year, but he
was discharged by the House of Commons, and Sir E. Wright appointed in his room.
Thomas Culham, Draper, elected Alderman, loco Wright, Knight, deceased, August 3rd, 1643. |
| 23 |
A member of the Grocers' Company. Elected Alderman of Vintry, September
19th, 1626; refused to serve, and was fined 500l. |
| 24 |
Appointed Recorder, November 16th, 1616; Solicitor-General, 1616; AttorneyGeneral, 1620; Lord Keeper, November 1st, 1625; created Lord Coventry of Aylesborough, April 10th, 1628; died at Durham House, Strand, January 14th, 1640. His
Father, Sir Thomas Coventry, was one of the Justices of the Common Pleas in 1606.
The family descended from John Coventry, Citizen and Mercer, Lord Mayor in 1425, one
of the Executors of Sir Richard Whittington. |
| 25 |
Ironmonger, elected Alderman of Castle Baynard, March 7th, 1625; discharged
upon payment of fine, April 27th, 1626. |
| 26 |
The Act of Indemnity and Oblivion, 12 Charles II., c. II, forgiving all but those
who sat in judgment upon the late King. |
| 27 |
Grocer, elected Alderman of Portsoken, January, 11th, 1641. Committed to Newgate
for refusing to be sworn, February 1st, 1641. He took the oath, and was discharged from
imprisonment, May 12th, 1642. Chosen Sheriff, 1642; removed to Bishopsgate, August 29th,
1648; impeached, with Sir John Gayre and Mr. Alderman Bunce, for abetting force and
tumult against the House of Commons, in 1647; committed to the Tower; discharged from
his office of Alderman by order of the House of Commons, April 7th, 1649, and Nathan
Wright, Skinner, elected in his room, April 26th, 1649; summoned by letter from King
Charles the Second to resume his office of Alderman, when, at his own request, on account
of his great age and infirmity, he was discharged, September, 18th, 1660. He was a Turkey
Merchant, and was descended from an ancient family seated at Langham, Rutlandshire. He
married the daughter of Alderman Bunce. Was M.P. for London, 1654; for Southwark,
1660; created a baronet, June 7th, 1660; died in 1671. His descendant, Sir John Langham,
of Cottesbrooke, Northampton, by his will, dated August 31st, 1764, left to the Court of
Aldermen £6,000 for the relief of distressed soldiers and seamen, which charity is still administered by them. The present representative of this family is Sir James Hay Langham,
eleventh baronet. |
| 28 |
Fishmonger, elected Alderman of Aldgate, October 27th, 1636; chosen Sheriff, June
24th, 1635; Lord Mayor, September 29th, 1646; ordered to attend the Lords in Parliament
upon his election (the entry of the approval of the Lords in Parliament is recorded in the
Common Hall Book); committed to the Tower, with Aldermen Gurney, Adams, Langham,
and Bunce, September 25th, 1647. The order of Parliament to the Lord Mayor to call a
Common Hall for the purpose of electing a Lord Mayor in the room of Sir John, impeached
for high treason, September 27th, 1647, is entered in the Corporation Records; he was
elected President of Christ's Hospital in 1648; discharged from his Aldermanship by order of
Parliament, April 7th, 1649; and on the 21st of April, Sir Thomas Andrews, Lord Mayor,
removed to Aldgate Ward, as Alderman in his room. |
| 29 |
Draper, elected Sheriff, 1639, chosen Alderman of the Ward of Portsoken, October
8th, 1639; removed to Billingsgate, November 23rd, 1641; Lord Mayor, September 29th,
1645; removed to Cornhill, September 16th, 1646; M.P. for London, 1654. A Royalist,
was imprisoned in the Tower; he remitted £10,000 to King Charles II. during his exile;
at the Restoration he was created a baronet, June 12th, 1660; was deputed by the City to
accompany General Monk to Breda, to bring back the King. He endowed several schools,
particularly that of Wem, Salop, where he was born. In 1632 he founded the Professorship
of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, of which he had been a member. President of St.
Thomas's Hospital from 1643 till 1649, and again from 1660 till his death, 24th February,
1668, aged 82; he was buried in the church of Allhallows Staining; John Jurin Succeeded
him as Alderman of Cornhill, April 21st, 1668. |
| 30 |
Captain James Bunce, Leatherseller, chosen Alderman of Bread Street, August 20th,
1642; Sheriff 1643; Master of his Company, 1643–4; impeached with Sir John Gayre, &c.,
before the House of Commons for countenancing and abetting force against the House, 1647;
Mark Hildsley, vintner, elected Alderman of Bread Street in the room of Bunce, November
3rd, 1649. He was of Ottringden, Kent, and was the son of James Bunce, of Gracechurch
Street, who was buried at St. Benet's, in that street. For pedigree, see Le Neve's 'Knights,'
Harleian Society's Publications, pp. 42, 43. |