Ralph Hopton (died 1571)
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Sir Ralph Hopton (1509/1510 – 14 December 1571), of Witham, Somerset, was an English courtier and politician. He was the son of a member of the Hopton family and Agnes Haines. In younger life a servant of
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...
, in 1540 he was granted lease of the demesne lands of Ayshbury in Berkshire, a grange of
Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It wa ...
which had been in dispute with the Bishop of Sarum. He became (knight) marshal of the Household from 1542.
Witham Charterhouse Witham Charterhouse, also Witham Priory, at Witham Friary, Somerset, was established in 1178/79, the earliest of the ten medieval Carthusian houses (charterhouses) in England. It was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Hi ...
, for grant in fee of the reversion of which (with its rents, site, lands and sundry associated tithes) he paid £573 in 1544, was the site of the earliest
Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...
priory in England. He was knighted in 1545. In 1549 he delivered the letters from
Sir John Russell Sir John Wriothesley Russell (22 August 1914 – 3 August 1984) was a British diplomat and ambassador. He was the only son of Thomas Wentworth Russell, better known as Russell Pasha, who was descended from John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. ...
and William Herbert showing their support for
Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
against
Lord Protector Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp (150022 January 1552) was an English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the Minor (law), minority of his n ...
. He was surveyor for the
Court of Augmentations Thomas Cromwell established the Court of Augmentations, also called Augmentation Court or simply The Augmentation in 1536, during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. It operated alongside three lesser courts (those of General Surveyors (1540 ...
for
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
in 1550-1554, and built up a sizeable estate of former monastic property in that county. He continued his offices for the Exchequer from 1554 until his death. He was a
Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
(MP) of the
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...
for
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
in March 1553, October 1553 and 1555. He continued as Knight Marshal of the Household to 1556, when he temporarily resigned the position, but resumed it alone from 1558 to 1560. He sat again in parliament, for
Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small nei ...
, in 1559. From that time he continued as Knight Marshal jointly with Robert Hopton until his death in 1571. He married Dorothy Willoughby, sister of
William Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby of Parham William Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby of Parham (c.1515 – 30 July 1570) was an English nobleman and soldier who in 1547 was made an hereditary peer of the House of Lords. Family William Willoughby was the son of Sir Christopher Willoughb ...
. Her niece Rachel Hall, daughter of Edmund Hall of Greatford in Lincolnshire, was brought up under the supervision of Sir Ralph, who settled the
remainder In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient ( integer division). In a ...
of most of his lands on Rachel in 1557, and on her heirs male if she married a Hopton. Her marriage was arranged to Arthur Hopton (son of Sir
Owen Hopton Sir Owen Hopton (c. 1519 – 1595) was an English provincial landowner, administrator and MP, and was Lieutenant of the Tower of London from c. 1570 to 1590. Early career Owen Hopton was the eldest son and heir of Sir Arthur Hopton of Cockf ...
and nephew of his fellow-marshal Robert Hopton), and the settlement was confirmed in 1566. His will left the residue to his wife. At Ralph's death and ''
inquisition post mortem An Inquisition post mortem (abbreviated to Inq.p.m. or i.p.m., and formerly known as an escheat) (Latin, meaning "(inquisition) after death") is an English medieval or early modern record of the death, estate and heir of one of the king's tenants-i ...
'', his heir-at-law was however found to be his uncle William Haines, by then an octogenarian.


Supposed kinship to Sir Arthur Hopton

He is said by some to have been kinsman of the half-blood to
Owen Hopton Sir Owen Hopton (c. 1519 – 1595) was an English provincial landowner, administrator and MP, and was Lieutenant of the Tower of London from c. 1570 to 1590. Early career Owen Hopton was the eldest son and heir of Sir Arthur Hopton of Cockf ...
, Robert Hopton (died 1590) and
Arthur Hopton (died 1607) Sir Arthur Hopton KB (died 20 November 1607), of Witham, Somerset, was an English politician. He was member of parliament for Dunwich in 1571, and for Suffolk in 1589. He was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of King James I.G.M.C., ...
. His will refers to "my nephew Arthur" and "Mistress Rachel his wife" in the same sentence, and asks that they remember his poor kinred. In a suit of 1601 Sir Ralph's half-sister's daughter, Elizabeth Gregorie, stated that the remainder of the estate, after the death of Lady Dorothie, was left "to Arthur Hopton Esquire the defendant, being of his name and not of any alliaunce or
consanguinity Consanguinity (from Latin '':wikt: consanguinitas, consanguinitas'' 'blood relationship') is the characteristic of having a kinship with a relative who is descended from a common ancestor. Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are ...
e unto him, and to Rachell Hall thother defendante whom Arthur was then to marrie". Sir Arthur and Rachel, in their deposition, agreed that Sir Ralph intended that the estates "for the mayntenaunce of the name of the Hoptons should remayne and come unto the use and behoofe of the said defendante Rachel and the heires males of her bodye to be begotten by the said defendant Arthur (his surname in blodd being Hopton)". Reaching their sentence the justices in Chancery noted that Sir Ralph had left his lands "to the defendaunte Rachaell being noe waie allyed unto her so as she married unto one whose surname should be Hopton, which she afterwarde did marrie with the said Arthur Hopton"; and Lord Keeper Egerton, "in respect of the greate advauncemente whiche the said defendauntes had had by the said Sir Raphe", awarded the suit for the copyhold of a
gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
at
Ditcheat Ditcheat is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish south of Shepton Mallet, and north-west of Castle Cary, in Somerset, England. Besides the village, the parish has four hamlets: Wraxall, Lower Wraxall, Alhampton and Sutton. Hi ...
to Elizabeth Gregorie and her husband.''Mayowe v Hopton'' (1601), C78/118/8
AALT image 0136
(AALT).
Had Sir Ralph been the half-brother of Sir Arthur Hopton's father, Sir Arthur would not have expressed his title in this fashion.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopton, Ralph 16th-century births 1571 deaths Politicians from Somerset 16th-century English knights English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1555 English MPs 1559