Francis Fitton or Fytton (died 1608) was an English landowner and amateur musician. Gawsworth Old Hall1

He was a younger son of Edward Fitton of Gawsworth, Cheshire, and Mary Harbottle, an heiress of Guiscard Harbottle of Horton and Beamish in Northumberland. His own estates were at

Wadborough Wadborough is a small village 2 miles outside Pershore and 7 miles from Worcester. The village is in Worcestershire, England. The village is an old farming community, with its nearest church a mile away in Pirton. In the 2001 census the parish ...

in Worcestershire (a Latimer property which had belonged to

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Binfield Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of ...

in Berkshire, and

Heckfield Heckfield is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies between Reading and Hook. It is the location of Highfield House, where Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who ...

, Hampshire, where he had a house called "Holleshotte". In 1588 he married Katherine Nevill (died 1596), a daughter of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer. She was the widow of

Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainme ...

. Fitton was a relation of hers and had been her steward, and in 1587 her son,

Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, Order of the Garter, KG (27 April 1564 – 5 November 1632) was an English people, English nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James VI and I, Ja ...

, attacked him with a rapier in her London townhouse. Fitton continued to be involved the business affairs of his stepson. He leased his own manor of

Nun Monkton Nun Monkton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of York at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Nidd, Nidd. Cottages and houses are grouped around a v ...

in Yorkshire (another Latimer property) to the Earls's solicitor John Carvile. At the

Union of Crowns The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single i ...

in 1603,

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

and

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

travelled to London, and aristocrats and gentry were keen to meet them on the way. Fitton wrote to his great-niece Anne Newdigate (1574–1618) with news of a delay to the queen's journey, caused by her miscarriage at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

, "the Queene hathe had lately some myshapp, (which is not to be spoken)". A great-nephew, Edward Fitton, joined the service of Anne of Denmark when George Carew became the queen's Vice-Chamberlain. Anne Newdigate's name was put forward as a nurse for the queen's daughter Princess Mary in 1605. She sent Francis Fitton lace that she had made and he called her "his owne sweete Nan". Fitton died on 17 June 1608. He is commemorated with a two-stage monument depicting him in armour and as a decayed cadaver below at St James' Church, Gawsworth. In his will, written in March 1608 when he was living at Gawsworth, he left a sapphire, a "clowdy lowpe saffer", which he used as medicine for the eyes to his sister Margaret (died 1612), wife of John Englefield (1562-1631), with the hangings and tapestries and furnishings including the

virginals The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the Renaissance music, late Renaissance and early Baroque music, Baroque periods. Description A virginals is a smaller and simpler, rectangular o ...

in his two chambers and dining chamber at Holleshotte. Fitton mentions a number of musical instruments, loaned and exchanged among family members, including sets of viols da gamba and recorders, a great

gittern The gittern was a relatively small gut-strung, round-backed instrument that first appeared in literature and pictorial representation during the 13th century in Western Europe (Iberian Peninsula, Italy, France, England). It is usually depicted p ...

, and another pair of virginals. Some of the instruments were in his London lodging near the Savoy. Fitton had no children and left the diamond-studded gold star that he wore in his hat to his nephew, Edward Fitton, the younger. He called this jewel a " gimmal".J. P. Earwaker, 'Will of Francis Fitton', ''Remains, Historical and Literary, Connected with the Palatine: Lancashire and Cheshire Wills'', 28 (Manchester, 1893), pp. 170-5: Lawrence M. Clopper, Elizabeth Baldwin, David Mills, ''REED Records of Early English Drama: Cheshire including Chester'' (Toronto, 2007), p. 814: National Archives PROB 11/112/118.

External links

The Fitton Memorials at Gawsworth

References

{{Reflist Fitton family English musicians 1608 deaths