17th-century Henry Maynard monument Church of St Mary Little Easton Essex England

Sir Henry Maynard (1547–1610) was an English politician and secretary to

Lord Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

, and became (by steady accretion) a substantial landowner.

Origins

Maynard was the son of John Maynard, who had been MP for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...

in the first Parliament of

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

in 1553–1554 (being one of the 39 members who absented themselves, rather than acknowledge the authority of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

), and his second wife, Dorothy, daughter of Robert Perrot. Collins’s ''Peerage'' (1812), volume 6
/ref>

Political career

He was secretary to Lord Burghley, the

Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

, and by virtue of his position he was able to take advantage of troubled assets and gradually became a major landowner, especially in Essex. He served as MP for St. Albans in the parliaments of 1586, 1588, 1592 and 1597. "He sat on committees concerning

recusancy Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

, horse and cattle stealing, privileges, penal laws, painters and stainers, and fustians".Jeffery Hankins, ''Local Government and Society in Early Modern England: Hertfordshire and Essex, c. 1590-1630'' (2003)
/ref> He was also summoned to the parliament of 1601 as a

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

in the last year of

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

’s reign (1603) and was knighted by her. In July 1603, following the accession of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

, he was appointed as Deputy Lieutenant for Essex (the new Lord Lieutenant being the

Earl of Sussex Earl of Sussex is a title that has been created several times in the Peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The early Earls of Arundel (up to 1243) were often also called Earls of Sussex. The fifth creation came in the Pee ...

). He also developed a reputation as a moneylender. In 1595–96, he acquired the manor of

Tooting Graveney Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. Th ...

from James Harrington. When the Queen visited in 1600, she was probably his guest.

Family

He married Susan, the daughter and co-heir of Thomas Pearson,

gentleman-usher Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants fou ...

of the

Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an Kingdom of England, English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Council of England, Privy Counsellors ...

(whose property included two inns in Queen Anne’s Gate called the White Hart and the Saracen’s Head Montague Cox, ''Survey of London'', volume 10 (1926)
/ref>), and had eight sons by her. The eldest,

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, became the first

Lord Maynard Viscount Maynard, of Easton Lodge in the County of Essex, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for Charles Maynard, 6th Baron Maynard, Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk. He was made Baron Maynard, of Much Easton (i.e. ...

. Another,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, became a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

. Burke's ''Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies'' (1844)
/ref> Yet another son, Charles Maynard, was Auditor of the Exchequer during the reign of Charles II and the father of

Sir William Maynard, 1st Baronet Sir William Maynard, 1st Baronet (6 October 1641 – 7 November 1685) was an English politician and baronet. He was the third and eldest surviving son of Charles Maynard and his wife Mary Corsellis, daughter of Zeager Corsellis, of London. His ...

Death and posterity

He made his will on 20 August 1609 and it was proved on 18 May 1610. Among other bequests, he left £2,000 to each of his daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, his London properties to his son Charles, and £500 and his leasehold properties in Warwickshire to his son Francis. He was buried at

Little Easton Little Easton is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is situated approximately east from the town of Bishop's Stortford, and north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. Little Easton parish is defined at the west by t ...

, Essex, near

Easton Lodge Easton Lodge was a Victorian Gothic style stately home in Little Easton and north-west from Great Dunmow, Essex, England. Once famous for its weekend society gatherings frequented by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), it was one of man ...

, a property granted to him by

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...

in 1590.Unlocking Essex's Past: Easton Lodge
Essex County Council, accessed 2010-12-18 His epitaph reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard, Henry 1547 births 1610 deaths High Sheriffs of Essex 17th-century English people English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598