Henry Neville (Gentleman of the Privy Chamber)


Sir Henry Neville of Billingbear House, Berkshire, was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VIII.

Family background

Sir Henry Neville's father was Sir Edward Neville, of Addington Park in Kent, who married Eleanor, daughter of Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor, and Elizabeth, sister of Edward Blount, 2nd Baron Mountjoy.
His father was the younger brother of George Neville, 5th Baron Bergavenny and older brother to Sir Thomas Nevill, Speaker of the House of Commons. As Manning said, the Neville surname "stands proudly forth as a pedigree in itself, and is associated with all that is noble in blood, distinguished in chivalry, eminent in counsel, and celebrated in the historic annals of Britain."

Career

Sir Henry Neville secured a post in the Privy Chamber despite the fact that his father was allegedly involved in the Courtenay conspiracy, and moreover, executed in 1538 by order of King Henry VIII, charged with "devising to maintain, promote, and advance one Reginald Pole, late Dean of Exeter, enemy of the King, beyond the sea, and to deprive the King"..
In March 1542, Neville attended Charles de Marillac the French ambassador; however, he apparently was not destined to have a career in diplomatic service, for by 1546, he is found serving as a groom of the privy chamber. He was made Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1546, Gentleman of the privy chamber in 1550, was knighted on 11 October 1551 and appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire for 1572. He was elected to Parliament as Knight of the shire for Berkshire five times, from 1553 to 1584. Neville was Henry VIII's godson and apparently was in good favour with the king, to the extent that he was included as one of the grooms who witnessed his will, of which he was afforded a legacy.
In 1551, he testified at the trial of Stephen Gardiner, and revealed the strong detestation Henry VIII had for the bishop. Neville was closely aligned with John Dudley and Sir Henry Sidney, the former of whom promoted him to Gentleman of the Privy chamber during the reign of Edward VI. As with many Protestants, Neville left the country upon Mary I's accession, however returned under Elizabeth I, and continued his career holding various posts in Berkshire, where he lived at Billingbear House, until his death on 13 January 1593. Sir Henry Neville was buried in the parish church at Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire, where there is a monument depicting Sir Henry, his second wife, Elizabeth Gresham, her mother, Frances Gresham, and Sir Henry and his second wife's daughter, Elizabeth Gresham.

Marriages and issue

Henry Neville married firstly, between 1551 and 1555, Winifred Losse, daughter of a property speculator, Hugh Losse of Whitchurch, London, by whom he had no issue.
Neville married secondly, by 1561, Elizabeth Gresham, granddaughter of Sir Richard Gresham, Lord Mayor of London, and only daughter and heir of the latter's elder son, John Gresham, by Frances Thwaytes, the daughter and coheir of Sir Henry Thwaytes of Lund, Yorkshire. In the will of their grandmother, Frances Gresham, dated 20 October 1580 and proved 9 November 1580.
Neville's children by his second marriage are named: Henry, Edward, Francis, William, and Katherine. Katherine married Edmund Doyley of Shottisham, Norfolk.
Neville married thirdly, about May 1578, Elizabeth Bacon, widow of Sir Robert Doyley of Chislehampton, Oxfordshire, and Greenlands in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire. Elizabeth Bacon was the eldest daughter of Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Nicholas Bacon, by his first wife, Jane Ferneley, the daughter of William Ferneley of Suffolk.
After Neville's death, his widow, Elizabeth, married, before the end of September 1595, Sir William Peryam. She made her last will on 12 November 1618, and died on 3 May 1621. There is a monument to her in the church of St Mary's, Henley-on-Thames.