Showing posts with label Queen Elizabeth I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queen Elizabeth I. Show all posts

Monday, September 2, 2013

Sir Hugh Underhill (1519-1593) of Ettington and Greenwich

Hugh Underhill like his brother Edward Underhill, traded life as a country man for that of a courtier, though he was somewhat less militant when compared to his brother. As the fifth son of Thomas Underhill and Ann Wynter, all of the manor lands at Idilcote, Hunningham, and Ettington Park had been deeded to his older brothers. As a result, Hugh found a place on the staff of the Royal Court in London. While there in 1540 and still under the reign of King Henry VIII, he married a daughter of Thomas Maynman, then Keeper of the Wardrobe at Greenwich. Maynman traced his roots to Warwickshire much like the Underhills, and it is there where his daughter was born in 1523. Underhill and Maynman almost certainly developed a relationship through their connections in court prior to their marriage.

Hugh Underhill married the daughter of Thomas Maynman in 1540 and they had a son Thomas Underhill who was born in 1545 at Greenwich in London. There Hugh Underhill and his family continued to live and work under the reign of Queen Mary I and then that of her sister Queen Elizabeth I. Hugh’s first wife died at Greenwich on October 18, 1562. Her father Thomas Maynman died the following year in 1563.[i] We find on February 5, 1563, a Royal Warrant appointing Hugh Underhill as the Keeper of the Wardrobe at Greenwich. The warrant read as follows:
In consideration of the true and faithful service heretofore done unto us by our well beloved servant Hugh Underhill, one of the officers of our wardrobe of beds, we have given and by these presents grant unto Hugh Underhill the office of keeper of our wardrobe within our manor of Greenwich.[ii]

The relationship of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley would continue long after their imprisonment together in the Tower of London. Just after Elizabeth was made Queen of England, Dudley was made Master of the Horse, putting him into close contact with the Queen. He would provide service to Elizabeth in the years to follow, rising in rank and status.

Having lost his title and lands in controversy surrounding the rise and fall of Lady Jane Grey, he had to start over rebuilding the family fortunes. Dudley was greatly aided by large loans from City of London merchants, and monopolies and export licenses granted by Elizabeth to her favorites. Shortly after being made Queen, Dudley was named Master of the Horse, putting the two of them together into close contact. Dudley would serve Elizabeth in the years to follow, rising in both rank and status.

Upon the death of Dudley’s first wife in 1560, some questioned his motives and whether he possibly wanted to see her removed so he could marry the Queen. Realizing this impractical, Dudley married Lettice Knoylls. Knolylls was the former wife of Walter Devereux. Their son Robert Devereux would later marry Frances Walsingham, daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary to the Queen.

Dudley was granted Kenilworth Manor, Castle, and Park in 1563, and from there presided over a growing collection of lands. That same year in 1563, Hugh’s son Thomas Underhill was assigned the role as Keeper of the Wardrobe for Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle. Robert Dudley would subsequently invest 60,000 pounds[iii] to convert Kenilworth into a place suited to receive the Queen during her ceremonial ‘progresses’ around her realm.[iv] As an indication of Dudley’s suitability for hosting Elizabeth and his taste for entertainment, in June 1559 Dudley formed a company of players. At the head of this company was James Burbadge, an associate of Shakespeare. [v]  These players undoubtedly played an important role in festivities held at Kenilworth Castle.



Hugh would live two decades more before his death on January 1593. Near the end of his life, Sir Hugh and his wife were given a royal grant “by special grace” of the queen for lifetime appointments to the office of Keeper of the Garden at Greenwich. Among their responsibilities were to attend to part of the grounds particularly reserved for Elizabeth I.[vi] He and his wife were remembered in royal records by Queen Elizabeth I as being one of her “Well beloved subjects.” Elizabeth would live 10 years longer following Hugh’s death. His wife Katherine Manning apparently found comfort and protection in the royal court though through her death 35 years after his, and 25 years after Queen Elizabeth’s.


[i] A Cornell-Hardtwell Genealogy by Stephen Wood Cornell (1990, Gateway Press)
[ii] http://books.google.com/books?id=SO_kPIVURnMC&lpg=PA9&dq=hugh%20underhill%20keeper%20of%20our%20wardrobe&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=hugh%20underhill%20keeper%20of%20our%20wardrobe&f=false
[v] Notices illustrative of the drama, and other popular amusements, chiefly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: incidentally illustrating Shakespeare and his contemporaries; extracted from the chamberlains' accounts and other manuscripts of the borough of Leicester, By William Kelly (Published by J. R. Smith, 1865)
[vi] Crossing to Freedom by Elizabeth Wells Bardwell (2002, iUniverse)
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Edward Underhill (1512-1579) "The Hot Gospeller"

King Henry VIII undertook a movement to unseat the supremacy of the Catholic Church and to create an independent Church of England. Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries throughout England, Ireland, and Wales between 1537 and 1541. This required a reinvention of the roles that these former ecclesiastical seats once had served. A rise in nationalism followed and along with it a middle gentry involved in defense, support of the court, and for providing entertainment. This would have a transformative impact on the life and livelihood of people living in places like Ettington and Kenilworth that so had such strong Catholic connections at one time through the Priory of Kenilworth.

The Underhill family would be ideally positioned to benefit from the changes taking place at this time.
At least one indication of the religious shifts and changes occurring was shown through Edward Underhill (1512-1579), son of Thomas Underhill and Ann Wynter who were the last in their family lines to remain Catholic. Edward Underhill traded life as a country man for that of a courtier and soldier. He served as a man-at-arms under Sir Richard Cromwell in the Siege of Landrecy in Hainault. Sir Richard would later procure a nomination for Edward Underhill to serve as one of 200 men-at-arms to attend King Henry VIII during his campaign in France. Edward Underhill was also among the first members of the band of Gentleman Pensioners that King Henry VIII revived in 1539. Much like members of the House of Shirley from whom members of the Underhill family leased Ettington, members of the Underhill family too played an important role militarily and in defense of England. Somewhat unlike the Shirley’s who leased property to the Underhill’s, Edward Underhill had to sell his estate at Honingham in 1545 to pay his expenses as pensioner. This shows how the Underhill’s while certainly prominent, were less well established than other families. Belying his origins and his Catholic parents, Edward Underhill would develop a reputation during the reign of King Edward VI for seeking out Catholics and placing them in jail. [iii] One particular instance was recounted how he arrested the Vicar of Stepney and carried him to Croydon before the archbishop.

An exchange between Edward Underhill and the Archbishop was recounted as follows:
Underhill: My Lord, methings you are too gentle unto so stout a papist.
Archbishop: We have no law to punish them.
Underhill: No law? My Lord. If I had your authority, I would be so bold to unvicar him, or minister some sharp punishment unit him. If ever it comes to their turn, they will show you no such favor.
Archbishop: Well, if God so provide, we must abide it.
Underhill: Surely, God will never thank you for this, but rather take the sword from such as will not use it upon his enemies.[iv]

Members of the Underhill family like many others throughout England, found themselves emerged in the great turmoil following the death of Edward VI. There was concern that if Mary I were allowed to ascend, that she would bring Roman Catholicism back to England and reverse reforms taken under her father King Henry VIII. This was the first time that the Dudley family enters our narrative. John Dudley, the 1st Duke of Northumberland amassed significant political influence and was regarded by some as the de facto ruler of England during the waning years of the reign of Edward VI. Anticipating the threat that Mary I posed, Dudley worked to position his heirs to someday be king. In April 1553, John Dudley’s son Guilford married the fifteen year old Lady Jane Grey. Having been a minor at the time, Edward VI had no legal standing to change the order of succession decided by his father and sanctioned by Parliament. As Edward VI neared death a “Devise for the Succession” [v] was formed. Mary and Elizabeth were both declared illegitimate heirs and Lady Jane Grey and her sisters named heirs to the throne. This devise had the opposite effect intended. Lacking popular support from the English people who saw this as a Protestant grab for Power,[vi] the preference to have a Catholic queen over a Protestant usurper was made clear in events to follow.

Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, and four days later Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England. She took residence in the Tower of London according to custom. Mary, on hearing of Edward’s demise, left her residence at Hunsdon and made her way to London where she was declared the rightful Queen by Parliament. Lady Jane and her husband Guilford were subsequently imprisoned. John Dudley was executed August 22, 1553. A trial for Jane and Guilford took place on November 13, 1553, and they too were found guilty and sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, Thomas Wyatt and his compatriots, feeling threatened by the eminent marriage of Queen Mary to the Roman Catholic Prince Phillip of Spain, sought to overthrow Queen Mary I and place Elizabeth on the throne. He was joined by Henry Great, 1st Duke of Suffolk who raised a force of 140 men. Over 3,000 men in total were gathered and poised to take London. After several abortive attempts attempting to enter the city and take the Tower himself, Wyatt surrendered, was tried, and executed with around 90 rebels.

Wyatt’s Rebellion imperiled Jane and Guilford Dudley. Philip and his councilors persuaded Mary to execute Jane and remove future threat of unrest. Guilford was publicly executed the morning of February 12, 1554, and the same day Jane was privately executed on the Tower Green. A week later Jane’s father Henry, Duke of Suffolk, was also executed for his part in the Wyatt Rebellion.

Figure #1: Imprisonments and Executions in the Lady Jane Gray Affair
-          John Dudley 19 Jul 1553 - 22 Aug 1553, executed
-          Edward Underhill 4 Aug 1553 – imprisoned
-          Guilford Dudley – 12 Feb 1554, Tower, executed
-          Lady Jane Grey, - 12 Feb 1554, Tower, executed
-          Elizabeth I, 18 Mar 1554 – 22 May, imprisoned Tower of London, moved to Woodstock

Elizabeth I was also threatened by the rebellion and was brought to court and interrogated. On March 18, 1554 she too was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Debate ensued about whether she should be tried and executed to eliminate the threat she posed to the crown. Robert Dudley, the son of the late Duke John Dudley was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Following the death of King Edward VI, Robert Dudley went into the countryside to raise support for Queen Jane. He was captured by the townsmen of King’s Lynn and sent before Mary at Framlingham Castle. From there he was condemned to death and imprisoned in the Tower. However, his brother-in-law Henry Sidney and his mother secured his release with the help of Spanish nobles aligned with Philip. Dudley and Elizabeth would maintain close ties following their three months of confinement together in the Tower of London.[vii]

These were perilous times for nobles and gentry throughout England and Underhill’s were not exempted. The same Edward Underhill who during the reign of King Edward VI was known for seeking out Catholics and placing them in jail, [xviii] would find himself directly implicated in the Dudley and Lady Jane Grey plot.

Edward Underhill had a son during the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey and Lady Jane herself served as godmother. His son was named Gylford in honor of Lady Jane’s husband Lord Guilford Dudley.[xix] That same month Edward Underhill published a ballad attacking Lady Mary that would get him into a great deal of trouble. This action would gain Edward Underhill the title, “the Hot Gospeller.” On August 4, 1553, Edward Underhill was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where he was questioned. For him to be at the Tower of London around the same time that Duke John Dudley, Guilford Dudley, and Lady Jane Grey were all located there, all who would ultimately face their execution, spoke to the severity of the situation.  Something of a reprieve came when he was sent to Newgate prison, where he would be one of the first felons sent there for reasons of religion.

Underhill had his defenders though. His godfather Sir William Herbert, the 1st Earl of Pembroke who supported the Calvinistic cause came to his defense.[xx]  Despite this effort, it was not until the middle of September when Underhill was released on bail through interference of the Earl of Bedford. Once being released he was fully restored by the Queen. [xxi],[xxii] His salary as a gentleman pensioner was resumed without deduction from the time of his arrest.[xxiii]  Much of this story was recounted in even greater detail in the Autobiographical Anecdotes of Edward Underhill, One of the Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.[xxiv]

Edward Underhill would retain his place among the gentlemen pensioners and defend Queen Mary during Wyatt’s insurrection on February 6-7, 1553. He attended her later in Winchester on July 1555 to meet Philip of Spain. During the winter of 1549-1550 Edward Underhill was sent as controller of the ordnance under Lord Hutingdon to defend Boulogne along with 6,000 other men. [xxv] Two last references to Edward are known, including burial of his wife at St. Botolph’s Aldgate on April 14, 1562, and other reference made on May 12, 1562, when Edward Underhill was employed as “master of the common hunt” to suppress a disturbance in the city of London. [xxvi]

Through service to several successive monarchs of England starting with King Henry VIII and moving forward, members of the Underhill family rose to higher and higher positions of significance. And even despite the notoriety that figures like Edward Underhill experienced, he too came around and distinguished himself in service to the crown. One figure who would eclipse the accomplishments and honors of those who came before was another son of Thomas Underhill and Ann Wynter, who would become known as Sir Hugh Underhill (1519-1593).[xxvii]


[i] Starkey, David. "Elizabeth: Woman, Monarch, Mission." Elizabeth: The Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Susan Doran (ed.). London: Chatto and Windus, 2003. ISBN 0701174765.
[ii] The English archæologist's handbook By Henry Godwin Published by Parker, 1867
[iii] History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth By James Anthony Froude
(Scribner, 1881), p.64.
[vi] Behind the mask: the life of Queen Elizabeth I By Jane Resh Thomas. p.48. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998.
[xviii] History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth By James Anthony Froude
(Scribner, 1881), p.64.
[xix] History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth By James Anthony Froude (Published by Scribner, 1881).
[xxi] Lives of the queens of England, from the Norman conquest By Agnes Strickland, Elisabeth Strickland (Published by Bell & Daldy, 1868).
[xxii] Lollardy and the Reformation in England By James Gairdner (2006, Kessinger Publishing)
[xxiii] Lives of the queens of England, from the Norman conquest By Agnes Strickland, Elisabeth Strickland (Published by Bell & Daldy, 1868) p.199.
[xxiv] Excerpt is re-published in Narratives of the Days of the Reformation: Chiefly from the Manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist: With Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer By John Gough Nichols Published by Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
[xxv] Narratives of the Days of the Reformation: Chiefly from the Manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist: With Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer By John Gough Nichols Published by Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
[xxvi] Dictionary of national biography by Leslie Stephen, George Smith, Sidney Lee, Edgar Trevor Williams, Robert Blake, Christine Stephanie Nicholls, Helen M. Palmer, L. G. Wickham Legg, John Reginald Homer Weaver, Henry William Carless Davis Published by Smith Elder, 1909. p.29-30
[xxvii] b. 1518, Hunninham, Warwickshire, England, d. Jan 1593, Greenwich, Kent, England
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Underhill Family and the Making of America


Relatively few families have had a greater influence in forming our American character than that of the Underhills, and still fewer families yet have individuals like Captain John Underhill.

Underhill found himself among the first and earliest wave of a trans-Atlantic progression, immigrating to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. His first purpose was to form the militia for the Bay Colony. Trained in the arts of war under William of Orange, Underhill provided leadership at a time this was needed most. Unfortunately, by doing so this set him at odds with the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Underhill was outspoken in his defense of Anne Hutchinson, being the first to sign a petition for her defense when she was being persecuted. Neither Hutchinson nor Underhill fared well, for in a short period thereafter both were exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony.

This began a period of wandering that took Underhill to Stamford, New Hampshire, and ultimately to New Amsterdam where he played an instrumental role in the defense of the later in the Indian Wars. After his distinguished service his reward was land on the parcel of Trinity Church. Underhill developed the reputation of being a “strong man” and posed a threat by his presence to the Dutch authorities of the New Netherlands. As such, his time on Manhattan was brief, before being relocated to Flushing.

There, once again, Underhill found himself in league with other religious dissenters, this time Quakers, who simply sought the freedom to practice their faith in their own home. The Quakers of Flushing were repressed by then Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant. The Flushing Remonstrance was signed by offended by infringement on their freedom of religion by Dutch authorities. Later, Bowne was sent to The Netherlands by the Dutch, only to be returned with the orders to allow the Quakers of Flushing to peaceably worship. What happened to Underhill was a different matter. He struggled with the Dutch authorities, raising the English parliamentary colors three times upon which he was arrested.

Eventually Underhill found his freedom and settled in Oyster Bay on Long Island. From that vantage he played an important role of the overthrow of the same Dutch authorities that persecuted him. There he found himself surrounded by Quaker dissenters, including Elizabeth Feake who was sister of Hannah Bowne, and influenced Underhill to convert to Quakerism. Underhill’s efforts to negotiate on behalf of the local Matinecock Native-Americans led to him being given 150 acres in the present-day area of Lattingtown. There he lived the final years of an active and tumultuous life, dying in 1672 at the ripe age of 75.

Generations that followed used Underhill and his epic story for varying purposes. The first generation of historians including John Winthrop and Jeremy Belknap sought to cast Underhill as a threat to the religious purity of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, heaping various forms of condemnation upon him, including that of being an adulterer. Still, later, in the Revolutionary War era Underhill was recognized as a leader in the defense of liberty, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship.

To our modern sensibilities a figure like Captain John Underhill, while a character with some notoriety in his time, might fit in quite well his fellow Americans as an exemplar of the freewheeling American spirit. Walking the streets of Manhattan today, just as he did over 350 years ago, Captain Underhill might fit right in. This is the legacy of Underhill that is most profound. For by relying on his conscience, and by following through on his beliefs, he made a contribution to the American character and spirit before we even knew what to call it.

To fully understand Underhill, one must take a broader view than merely since the time of his arrival in America in 1630. Underhill was the recipient of a family heritage and story in England unlike almost any other. Members of the Underhill family in England rose to positions of prominence several generations even before John Underhill was born in 1597.

Almost a century earlier in 1509, a moment of great importance occurred for the Underhill family. This was when an ancestor of Captain John Underhill, also by the name of John Underhill (1450-1518), gained the lease to Ettington Manor.

The Underhill family in Europe and America rose to prominence in England during the 16th century, and found themselves at the cross-roads of important political, social, and economic movements in Europe and America from that time onwards. This brought them into contact with the English court, and leading political, military, and literary figures of their day. Through these connections members of the Underhill family have served as witness to some of the great people and events that have helped to bring our modern world about as we know it today.

The Underhill family finds itself at the intersection of some of the greatest mysteries of the time too, including the supposed relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Robert Dudley, the emergence of a country writer by the name of Shakespeare, and the mysterious death of Sir Francis Bacon. For one family to be associated with just one of these great issues would be a distinction, but for one family to be associated with all of them goes to show the central role the Underhill family played in important issues in 16th and 17th century England.

The Underhill family provides a single string which connects together the stories of Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey, Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Francis Bacon, and Shakespeare. When the family moves to America in 1630, here too they find themselves with leading personalities and leaders including Anne Hutchinson, John Winthrop, and Peter Stuyvesant. As such they may be seen as unifying figures during a time of great turmoil as religious conflict gripped Europe, and as a new American colony was being established.

One of the most fascinating questions is how one family dating back to the 1200’s in the Staffordshire area could rise from relative obscurity to become associated with some of the most important personalities and to be at the crux of important events defining England and later America in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)