JOHN DE VERE, sixteenth Earl Of Oxford (1512?-1562), born about 1512, was eldest son of John de Vere, fifteenth earl of Oxford
(1490?-1540), by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edward (or John) Trussell of Cublesdon, Staffordshire [...] John, the eldest son, received in 1541 livery of
lands which descended to him through his mother. In 1544 he served with the expedition to Boulogne,
holding the rank of captain in the rearguard of the king's [Henry VIII] army. As hereditary great
chamberlain he was frequently at court, but played no prominent part in politics.
He was knighted by Edward VI at his coronation, 20 Feb. 1547, and at the end of the reign, on
16 June 1553, signed the letters patent by which Lady Jane Grey was nominated the king's
successor. But on 19 July, shortly after Edward VI's death,he declared for Queen Mary, and on
3 Sept. was admitted to her privy council. He bore the sword before Mary on her progress through London on 30 Sept. Subsequently the queen's faith in his loyalty
was shaken. His zeal for Catholicism was doubted, and in 1556 there were rumours that he was implicated in the plot of Sir Henry Dudley and Richard Uvedale.
Elizabeth, on her accession, showed him much favour, and in September 1559 he was appointed, with
Lord Robert Dudley, to attend the king of Sweden's second son, John, duke of Finland, when the
duke came to England to offer Elizabeth marriage in behalf of his elder brother, Prince Eric. He met the duke on his landing at Harwich, and showed him 'great sport'
in the valley of the Stour. From 14 to 19 Aug. 1561 he entertained Queen Elizabeth at his residence of Castle
Hedingham.
In Essex, where his estates lay, he held through life many posts of honour. He was appointed chief commissioner of array on 7 May 1545, joint lord lieutenant on
25 Sept. 1550 and 24 May 1553, joint lord justice and lieutenant on 4 May 1551 and 7 May 1552, justice of the peace on 18 Feb. 1554, and lord lieutenant on 17 Jan.
1557-8 and 1 May 1559. He was known in the county as a good landlord and a keen sportsman. He died on 3 Aug. 1562, and was buried in the church of Castle Hedingham.
He was twice married. His first wife, whom he married on 3 July 1536, was Lady Dorothy, second daughter of Ralph Neville, fourth earl of Westmorland. His second wife,
whom he married after 27 June 1547, was Margaret, daughter of John Golding of Belchamp St. Paul, near Hedingham, and sister of Arthur Golding, the translator of Ovid:
she married a second husband, Christopher (or Charles) Tyrell, and, dying on 2 Dec. 1568 at Earls Colne, was buried there. By his first wife Oxford had an only child,
Katharine, who married Edward, lord Windsor; and by his second wife he had two children, Edward de Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford
and a daughter, Mary, who married Peregrine Bertie, lord Willoughby de Eresby.
(Sidney Lee)
Source:
Dictionary of National Biography. Vol LVIII. Sidney Lee, Ed.
New York: The Macmillan Co., 1899. 242-243.
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