Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton (1545-1581)

HENRY WRIOTHESLEY, second Earl of Southampton (1545-1581), only surviving son of the first earl, was christened on 24 April 1545 'at St. Andrewes in Holborne with great solempnity, the kinges Majestie godfather; the Erle of Essex deputy for the kinge; the Duke of Suffolke the other godfather; my Lady Mary godmother at the christninge; and the erle of Arundel godfather at the bishopinge.'¹ He was styled Baron Wriothesley from 1547 until 30 July 1550, when he succeeded as second Earl of Southampton. In August 1552 Edward VI was entertained at Titchfield, and in 1560 the council entrusted the earl, 'as a ward of state,' to the care of William More of Loseley Park, near Guildford.² Southampton, who was privately educated, inclined to the Roman catholic religion, and married into a Roman catholic family. His wife was Mary, daughter of Anthony Browne, first viscount Montague, and the marriage took place on 19 Feb. 1565-6, when Southampton was still under age, at Montague's house, 'by hys advyse without the consent of my lady hys mother.'

In 1569 he entertained Queen Elizabeth at Titchfield, but his Roman catholic sympathies had already involved him in the scheme for marrying Mary Queen of Scots to the Duke of Norfolk. This was not the limit of his disloyalty; for on 1 Dec. 1569 the Spanish ambassador wrote to Alva, 'Lord Montague and the Earl of Southampton have sent to ask me for advice as to whether they should take up arms or go over to your excellency.'³ On the 18th he reported that the two lords actually started for Flanders, but were driven back by contrary winds. Southampton was arrested on 16 June 1570, and placed in the custody of (Sir) William More of Loseley, his former guardian.⁴ According to Guerau de Spes the earl was 'again' arrested in October 1571, 'having come unsuspiciously to court.' He was reported to be one of those 'with whom Ridolfi most practised, and upon whom he put most trust,' and, according to the bishop of Ross, Southampton consulted him as to whether he might conscientiously obey Queen Elizabeth after the bull of excommunication. He was examined on 31 Oct. 1571 and denied the truth of these accusations.⁵

He is said⁶ to have remained at Loseley till July 1573, but it appears that after this examination he was really confined in the Tower. On 30 March 1573 his father-in-law was allowed to confer with him 'touching matters of law and the use of his living in the lieutenant [of the Tower]'s presence.' On 1 May following he was allowed 'more liberty,' and on 14 July was permitted to 'remain with the Lord Viscount Montague' at Cowdray, near Midhurst, Sussex. His dispute with the lieutenant of the Tower about his diets was settled by arbitration, and on 12 July 1574 he was placed on the commission of the peace for Hampshire.⁷ He was also a commissioner for the transport of grain,⁸ commissioner of musters, and t? suppress piracy. Two months before his death he was suspected of harbouring Edmund Campion; and on 20 Dec. 1581 his house in Holborn was searched by order of the council.⁹

Southampton died, in his thirty-seventh year, on 4 Oct. 1581, and was buried in Titchfield church, where his monument is still extant. By his wife, whose portrait is at Welbeck, Southampton had issue a son, who died young; his son and successor, Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton; and a daughter Mary, who in 1585 married in her mother's private chapel in St. Andrew's, Holborn, Thomas Arundell, afterwards first baron Arundell of Wardour; the marriage license, dated 18 June 1585, was issued to the bridegroom's father, Sir Matthew Arundell.¹⁰ His will, dated 29 June 1581, was proved in 1583. His widow married, as her second husband, Sir Thomas Heneage; and as her third, in May 1598, Sir William (afterwards baron) Hervey of Kidbrooke. She died in 1607, and was buried at Titchfield, her will, dated 22 April, being proved on 4 Nov. 1607. Autograph letters from Southampton to Burghley and the lords of the council desiring his release are extant in Lansdowne MSS. 16, arts. 22 and 23, and 17, art, 14.

1. Wriothesley, A Chronicle of England. i. 154.
2. Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. App. p. 615.
3. Cal. Simancas MSS. 1568-71, p. 214; J. A. Froude, History of England, ix. 135, 144.
4. Acts of the Privy Council 1558-70, p. 366; Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. App. pp. 622-6; ?empe, Loseley MSS. passim; 'The Confinement of the Earl of Southampton,' apud Archæologica, xix. 263-9.
5. Murdin, Burghley State Papers, pp. 38, 40; Cal. State Papers, Scottish, ed. Thorp, ii. 889, 890; Cal. Hatfield MSS. i. 620-7, 668, 660-2.
6. Archæologica. xix. 267.
7. Acts of the Privy Council 1571-5, pp.92, 102, 109, 111, 130, 267.
8. ib. 1577-8, p. 368.
9. ib. 1581-2, pp. 153, 296, 298, 376.
10. Bishop of London's Marriage Licences, Harl. Soc. 1520-1610, p. 140.

Source:

Pollard, A. F. "Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton."
The Dictionary of National Biography. Vol XXI. Sidney Lee, Ed.
New York: The Macmillan Co., 1909. 1067-1068.

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