Henry Daubeney, 1st Earl of Bridgewater

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Henry Daubeney, 1st Earl of Bridgewater, 2nd Baron Daubeney (December 1493 – 8 April 1548) was an English peer and member of the House of Lords.

Origins

He was the son and heir of Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (1451-1508), KG by his wife Elizabeth Arundell, the daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall.

Childhood

His father had intended Henry before his sixteenth birthday to marry one of the daughters of Sir John IV Basset (1462–1528), of Tehidy in Cornwall, and Whitechapel in Devon, and at some time before December 1504 for that eventual purpose had taken into his household two of Basset's daughters, Anne Basset and Thomasine Basset, to give the 11-year-old Henry a choice of future bride.[1] However no such marriage took place, possibly due to his father's early death four years later in 1508[2] and Henry's subsequent entry into the wardship of his mother Elizabeth, who at the same time obtained his marriage "without disparagement", apparently an escape clause from the contract.[3] In 1511 Anne Basset married James Courtenay, so it appears the contract had been abandoned by that time.[4] The proposed Daubeney-Basset marriage was the result of Henry's father having invested heavily, in excess of 3,000 marks, to enable John Basset to redeem his substantial inheritance from the Beaumont family, comprising amongst others the Devonshire manors of Shirwell, Umberleigh and Heanton Punchardon. The redemption of these lands by Daubeney snr. was part of the "great indenture" of 11 December 1504[5] made with Basset, which would require ownership of the lands to descend to the male issue of the marriage between Henry Daubeney and one of the Basset daughters. Even though he had failed to meet his part of the bargain of marrying one of the Basset daughters, Henry spent considerable effort in later life trying to prevent the Basset family obtaining the reversion of these properties, as the indenture provided for. The dispute figures prominently in the Lisle Letters.[6] Indeed Henry tried to alienate the Beaumont lands to Edward Seymour,[7] the queen's brother, then trying to build up a Devon estate,[8] who was also a key influence in obtaining Henry's earldom.[9]

Career

In 1513 he served in the French war. In 1520 he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, together with his first wife, and at the Calais interview of 1532.[10] He was created Earl of Bridgewater on 19 July 1538.

Marriages

Henry married twice but left no progeny:

Death & succession

There were no issue of either marriage, and at his death the barony of Daubeney and the earldom of Bridgewater became extinct.[15]

Notes

  1. Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The Lisle Letters, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981, for summary of the Basset-Daubeney contract see: vol.1, pp.312-3; for a detailed treatment see vol.4, pp.1-11 & vol.5, pp.167-169,176, 183, 187-9, 216-7, 239,
  2. Byrne, vol.1, p.312
  3. Byrne, vol. 4, p.9
  4. Byrne, vol. 4, p.10
  5. Transcript in Byrne, vol. 4, chapter 7, appendix 2, pp.95-103
  6. Byrne, vol.5, p.187; especially from May 1536
  7. Byrne, vol.5, p.146
  8. Byrne, vol.5, p.189
  9. Byrne, vol.5, p.183
  10. Byrne, vol. 4, p.10
  11. Cokayne 1910, p. 33.
  12. Hawkyard 2004.
  13. Richardson I 2011, pp. 37–8, 170.
  14. Byrne, vol.4, p.10
  15. Cokayne 1916, pp. 102–105.

References

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Peerage of England
New creation Earl of Bridgewater
1st creation
1538–1548
Extinct
Preceded by Baron Daubeney
1508–1548