Sir John Boxall (died 1571) was an English churchman and secretary of state to

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous ...

Catholic statesman

He was a native of Bramshott in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. After studying at

Winchester School Winchester College is an English public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as ...

he was admitted a perpetual fellow of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, in 1542, where he took his degrees in arts. He took orders, but, being opposed to the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, he did not act as minister during the reign of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

. On Queen Mary's accession he was not appointed her majesty's secretary of state, but dean of Ely (also archdeacon and prebendary there). He continued to a primary influence in the Marian church first as prebendary of Winchester, and Warden of

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

(1554) as successor to John White. Boxall was one of the divines who were chosen to preach at

St Paul's Cross Paul's Cross (alternatively "Powles Crosse") was a preaching cross and open-air pulpit in St Paul's Churchyard, the grounds of Old St Paul's Cathedral, City of London. It was the most important public pulpit in Tudor and early Stuart Englan ...

in support of the Catholic religion; John Pits relates that on one occasion a bystander hurled a dagger at him, other writers assert that this happened to Dr. Pendleton, but

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of History of England, English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe C ...

that Gilbert Bourne occupied the pulpit on the occasion referred to. On 23 September 1556, Boxall was sworn as a member of the privy council; also as one of the masters of requests and a councillor of that court. Finally elevated by Queen Mary's favour he was appointed Secretary of State in March 1557. In July, he was made Dean of Peterborough; on 20 December following he was installed Dean of Norwich, and about the same time

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canon (priest), canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilat ...

. He was elected register of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

on 6 February 1558, and in 1558 was created Doctor of Divinity and appointed prebendary of York and Salisbury. As the Queen Mary lay dying he was already one of the richest men in England; allowed ten retainers, he was one of the overseers of Cardinal Pole's will.

Declining fortunes

Boxall was removed from the office of secretary of state by Queen Elizabeth, on her accession, to make way for William Cecil, to whom he acted helpfully. Having been deprived of his ecclesiastical preferments, he was on 18 June 1560 committed to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

by Archbishop

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 to his death. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer ...

and other members of the ecclesiastical commission; subsequently he was in custody at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

with Thomas Thirleby,

Cuthbert Tunstall Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an England, English humanist, bishop, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI of ...

and other Catholics. He was removed at different periods to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and Beaksbourne, remaining still in the archbishop's charge. On 20 July 1569, Boxall, then in custody at Lambeth, wrote to Sir William Cecil requesting leave to visit his mother. Eventually the ailing Boxall was allowed to go to the house of a relative in London, where he died on 3 March 1571. His brothers Edmund and Richard were appointed administrators of his property.

Works

He published a Latin sermon preached in a convocation of the clergy in 1555 and printed at London in the same year. He also wrote an ''Oration in the Praise of the Kinge of Spaine'', left in manuscript in Latin, and probably composed in May or June 1555, on the report of the queen having been delivered of a prince.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boxall, John Year of birth missing 1571 deaths People from Bramshott 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Deans of Ely Deans of Norwich Deans of Peterborough Deans of Windsor Registers of the Order of the Garter Wardens of Winchester College