Sir William Hussey (or Huse or Husee) of

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, SL (1443 – 8 September 1495) was an English lawyer who served as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

and as

Chief Justice of the King's Bench The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

Family

Hussey was the son of John Hussey (or Huse or Husee) of Old Sleaford,

, and his wife, Elizabeth Nesfield (or Neffield), of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Career

He was a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, and on 16 June 1471 was appointed

, with full power of deputing clerks and officers under him in courts of record. As Attorney General he conducted the impeachment of the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence was a substantive title created three times in the Peerage of England. The title Duke of Clarence and St Andrews has also been created in the Peerage of Great Britain, and Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Prince Leopold, Duke ...

for treason. In Trinity term of 1478 he was made a Serjeant-at-Law, and on 7 May 1481 was appointed

, in succession to Sir Thomas Billing, at a salary of 140 marks a year. This appointment was renewed at the ascension of each of the next three kings, and under Henry VII, he was also a commissioner to decide the claims made to fill various offices at the coronation. In the first year of this reign, he successfully protested against the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

's practice of consulting the judges beforehand upon crown cases which they were subsequently to try. In June 1492, he was a commissioner to treat with the ambassadors of the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

. He died 8 September 1495, and was buried at Sempringham. On 24 November of that year, Sir John Fineux succeeded him as Chief Justice.

Marriage and issue

About 1474, Sir William Hussey married Elizabeth Berkeley (c. 1453 – 1504), daughter of Sir Thomas Berkeley of

Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, and wife Petronella Brokesby or Brooksby. They had three sons and two daughters: * John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford (1476–1537), eldest son and heir, who married firstly Margaret Blount and secondly Lady Anne Grey. * Sir Robert Hussey of Linwood, Lincolnshire (1483 – 20 May 1546), second son, who married firstly Anne Saye and secondly Jane Stydolf. By his first wife he had a son, Sir Charles Hussey. By his second wife he had a daughter, Elizabeth Hussey, who was the 'Mistress Crane' involved in the printing of the Marprelate tracts. From Sir Robert Hussey descend the Hussey family of Honnington,

(see Hussey Baronets). * Sir William Hussey (d. 1531), who married Anne Salvaine, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Salvaine of Thorpe,

.Walter C. Metcalfe (1881), Visitation of Lincolnshire 1562–1564. * Elizabeth Hussey (d.

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

, 19 November 1516, bur. Warden Abbey), who married Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent, but died without issue. * Mary Hussey (1484), who married William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (d. 1525), without issue.

Notes

References

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External links

Will of Sir William Hussey, PROB 11/10/592, proved 4 July 1496, National Archives
11 December 2013
Will of Dame Elizabeth Hussey, widow, PROB 11/14/415, proved 11 December 1504, National Archives
11 December 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussey, William Lord chief justices of England and Wales People from Sleaford, Lincolnshire Medieval English knights

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

1443 births 1495 deaths 15th-century English judges Knights Bachelor George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence