Editing Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper)

{{Short description|English politician (1511–1579)}}
{{Other people|Nicholas Bacon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Sir]]
| name        = Nicholas Bacon
| image       = Sir Nicholas Bacon.jpeg
| caption     = Sir Nicholas Bacon by an unknown artist, 1579
| office1     = [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]]
| term_start1 = c. 1558
| term_end1   = c. 1571
| predecessor1= [[Nicholas Heath]], [[Archbishop of York]] <small>''([[Lord Chancellor]])''</small>
| successor1  = [[Thomas Bromley|Sir Thomas Bromley]] 
| office2     = [[Lord Privy Seal|Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal]]
| term_start2 = c. 1558
| term_end2   = c. 1579
| predecessor2= [[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget]]
| successor2  = [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]]
| parents     = Robert Bacon, Isabel Cage
| spouse      = Jane Ferneley<br>[[Anne Bacon|Anne Cooke]]
| children    = [[Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave]]<br>[[Edward Bacon (died 1618)|Sir Edward Bacon]]<br>[[Nathaniel Bacon (died 1622)|Sir Nathaniel Bacon]]<br>[[Elizabeth Neville (died 1621)|Elizabeth Bacon]]<br>Anne Bacon<br>Elizabeth Bacon (again)<br>[[Anthony Bacon (1558–1601)|Anthony Bacon]]<br>[[Sir Francis Bacon]]
| birth_date  = 13 October 1510
| birth_place = [[Chislehurst]], England
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1579|2|20|1510|12|28|df=yes}}
| death_place = London
}}
[[File:BaconArms.svg|thumb|Arms of Bacon: ''Gules, on a chief argent two mullets pierced sable''<ref>Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.34</ref>]]

'''Sir Nicholas Bacon''' (28 December 1510 – 20 February 1579) was [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]] during the first half of the reign of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]]. He was the father of the philosopher and statesman Sir [[Francis Bacon (philosopher)|Francis Bacon]].

==Life==
He was born at [[Chislehurst]], Kent, the second son of Robert Bacon (1479–1548) of [[Drinkstone]], Suffolk, by his wife Eleanor (Isabel) Cage.

He graduated from [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]] in 1527.<ref>{{acad|id=BCN523N|name=Bacon, Nicholas}}</ref> The college law society at Corpus, the [[Nicholas Bacon Law Society]], founded in 1972, is named after him.<ref> [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]] (Easter term, 2006) {{Cite journal |author=Liz Winter |title=Nicholas Bacon Bursary Fund |url=https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/Development%20Files/Pelicans%203/Pelican-easter%202006.pdf |journal=The Pelican}} Retrieved 17 May 2024</ref>

There is a story that he evaded [[ordination]] by going into hiding "with the help of a rich uncle", and he seems to have entered an [[Inns of Chancery|Inn of Chancery]] before being admitted to [[Gray's Inn]] five years later after a period in Paris; he was [[called to the Bar]] in 1533.<ref name=":1" />

Following the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], [[Henry VIII]] gave him a grant of the manors of [[Redgrave, Suffolk|Redgrave]], [[Botesdale]] and [[Gislingham]] in Suffolk,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/redgravehistory/bacon/baconpark.htm |title=redgravehistory |access-date=18 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708213003/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/redgravehistory/bacon/baconpark.htm |archive-date=8 July 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Gorhambury]], Hertfordshire. Gorhambury belonged to [[St Albans Abbey]] and lay near the site of the vanished Roman city of [[Verulamium]] (modern day [[St Albans]]). From 1563 to 1568 he built a new house, [[Old Gorhambury House]] (now a ruin), which later became the a property of [[Francis Bacon (philosopher)|Francis Bacon]], his youngest son, who also built a nearby property, [[Verulam House, St Albans (17th century)|Verulam House]], to his own designs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Old Gorhambury Water Gardens |url=https://www.gardenvisit.com/gardens/old_gorhambury_water_gardens |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.gardenvisit.com}}</ref>
[[File:South west view of Gorhambury 9th March, 1827 (BM 1922,0410.140).jpg|thumb|Gorhambury House, remaining]]

In 1545 he became a Member of Parliament, representing [[Dartmouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Dartmouth]].<ref name=":0">A.D.K. Hawkyard, 'Bacon, Nicholas (1510-79), of Gray's Inn and York House, London; Redgrave, Suff. Gorhambury, Herts.', in S.T. Bindoff (ed.), ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558'' (from Boydell and Brewer, 1982), [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/bacon-nicholas-1510-79 History of Parliament Online] (accessed June 2018).</ref> The following year, he was made Attorney of the [[Court of Wards and Liveries]], a prestigious and lucrative post, and by 1552 he had risen to become treasurer of Gray's Inn.

As a Protestant, he lost preferment under Queen [[Mary I of England]]. However, on the accession of her younger sister Elizabeth in 1558, he was appointed [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]], largely owing to the influence of his brother-in-law [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|William Cecil]]. Shortly afterwards, Bacon was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]].
[[File:Portret van Mathew Parker, RP-P-1940-584.jpg|thumb|Mathew Parker, a close friend of Bacon's]]
Bacon helped secure the position of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] for his friend [[Matthew Parker]], and in his official capacity presided over the [[House of Lords]] when Elizabeth opened her first parliament. Though an implacable enemy of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], he opposed Cecil's policy of war against France, on financial grounds; but he favoured closer links with foreign Protestants, and was aware of the threat to England from the alliance between France and [[Scotland]]. In 1559 he was authorized to exercise the full jurisdiction of [[Lord Chancellor]]. In 1564 he fell temporarily into the royal disfavour and was dismissed from court, because Elizabeth suspected he was concerned in the publication of a pamphlet, ''A Declaration of the Succession of the Crowne Imperial of Ingland,'' by [[John Hales (d.1571)|John Hales]], which favoured the claim of [[Lady Katherine Grey]] (sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]]) to the English throne.

Bacon's innocence having been admitted, he was restored to favour, and replied to a writing{{clarify|date=July 2023}} by Sir [[Anthony Browne (justice)|Anthony Browne]], who had again asserted the rights of the [[Duke of Suffolk#Dukes of Suffolk, second Creation (1514)|House of Suffolk]], to which Lady Katherine belonged. He thoroughly distrusted Mary, Queen of Scots; objected to the proposal to marry her to [[Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk]]; and warned Elizabeth that serious consequences for England would follow her restoration. He seems to have disliked the proposed marriage between the English queen and [[François, Duke of Anjou]], and his distrust of the Roman Catholics and the French was increased by the [[St Bartholomew's Day massacre]]. As a loyal English churchman he was ceaselessly interested in ecclesiastical matters, and made suggestions for the better observation of doctrine and discipline in the church.

==Death and legacy==

He died in London<ref name=":0" /> and was buried in [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]];<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p97: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909</ref> there were many tributes to him. His grave and monument were destroyed in the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666. A modern monument in the crypt lists his as one of the important graves lost.

He had been an eloquent speaker, a learned lawyer, a generous friend; and his interest in education led him to make several gifts and bequests for educational purposes, including the foundation of a free grammar school at [[Redgrave, Suffolk|Redgrave]] in [[Suffolk]].

==Marriages and issue==
Nicholas Bacon's first marriage was to Jane Ferneley (d.1552). Nicholas and Jane had six surviving children, three sons and three daughters:<ref name=Tittler_2004/>

*[[Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave]] (c.1540–1624), who married Anne Butts, the only child and daughter of Edmund Butts (a son of [[William Butts|Sir William Butts]], doctor to King Henry VIII) by his wife Anne Bures,<ref name=Tittler_1976>{{Harvnb|Tittler|1976|p=153}}</ref> (whose inscribed ledger stone is in Redgrave Church)<ref name=":1">See image: [[:File:St Marys church in Redgrave - early C17 memorial (geograph 2258720).jpg]] https://www.mbs-brasses.co.uk/index-of-brasses/ann-butts</ref> one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Henry Bures (d.1528) of Acton, Suffolk. Anne Butts was the heir of her uncle Sir William Butts (d.1583), junior, of Thornage, Norfolk, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1563, whose Easter Sepulchre monument survives in Thornage Church. Three of the daughters and co-heiresses of Henry Bures married three of the sons of Sir William Butts, senior.<ref>Farrer, Edmund, Church Heraldry of Norfolk, Vol 2 (1889), pp.407-8 [https://archive.org/details/churchheraldryn00farrgoog/page/406/mode/2up?view=theater] See image [[:File:All Saints Church - monument - geograph.org.uk - 764500.jpg]]</ref>
*[[Edward Bacon (died 1618)|Edward Bacon]] (1548/9 – 1618), who married Helen Little, the daughter of Sir Thomas Little of [[Bray, Berkshire]], by Elizabeth Lyton (daughter of Sir Robert Lyton of [[Knebworth]], [[Hertfordshire]]), by whom he was the father of [[Nathaniel Bacon (English politician)|Nathaniel Bacon]] (1593–1660) and [[Francis Bacon (Ipswich MP)|Francis Bacon]] (1600–1663).<ref name=Tittler_1976/><ref name=Smith_2004>{{Harvnb|Smith|2004}}.</ref>
*[[Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey|Sir Nathaniel Bacon]] (c.1546 – November 1622), who first married, in July 1569, Anne Gresham (d.1594), the illegitimate daughter of [[Thomas Gresham|Sir Thomas Gresham]], founder of the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], by Anne Dutton; secondly, on 21 July 1597 he married Dorothy Hopton (c.1570–1629), daughter of [[Arthur Hopton (died 1607)|Arthur Hopton]] and widow of William Smith of [[Burgh Castle]], [[Suffolk]].<ref name=Tittler_1976/><ref name=Smith_2004/>
*[[Elizabeth Bacon (died 1621)|Elizabeth Bacon]], who married:
*# Sir Robert Doyley;
*#[[Henry Neville (died 1593)|Sir Henry Neville]],
*#[[William Peryam|Sir William Peryam]].<ref name=Tittler_1976/><ref>{{Harvnb|Harley|2005|pp=4–7}}; {{Harvnb|Riordan|2004}}.</ref>
*Anne Bacon, who married [[Henry Woodhouse (MP)|Sir Henry Woodhouse]] (d.1624),<ref name=Tittler_1976/><ref>{{Harvnb|Ungerer|1974|p=278}}.</ref><ref name=Smith_2002>{{Harvnb|Smith|2002|p=180}}.</ref> by whom she was the mother of [[Henry Woodhouse (governor)|Sir Henry Woodhouse]].
*Elizabeth Bacon, who married:
*#Francis Wyndham, the son of Sir Edmund Wyndham.,<ref name=Tittler_1976/><ref name=Smith_2002/>
*#[[Robert Mansell]]<ref>Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 for Robert Mansell</ref>

Sir Nicholas Bacon's second marriage, in 1553, was to [[Anne Bacon|Anne Cooke]] (1528–1610), one of the daughters of [[Anthony Cooke|Sir Anthony Cooke]], by whom he had two sons:
*[[Anthony Bacon (1558–1601)|Anthony Bacon]] (1558–1601)
*[[Francis Bacon]] (1561–1626), who became [[Lord Chancellor]] and was also a philosopher, author and scientist.

Jane's widowed younger sister, Anne Ferneley (d.1596), married secondly in 1544 to [[Thomas Gresham|Sir Thomas Gresham]].<ref name=Tittler_2004>{{Harvnb|Tittler|2004}}.</ref>{{Fix|text=How does that fit in?}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{Cite journal |last=Harley |first=John |year=2005 |title='My Ladye Nevell' Revealed |journal=Music & Letters |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1093/ml/gci001 |s2cid=191640785 |url=http://www.ml.oupjournals.org |access-date=25 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723170317/http://www.ml.oupjournals.org/ |archive-date=23 July 2008 }}
*{{Cite ODNB |last=Riordan |first=Michael |year=2004 |title=Henry VIII, privy chamber of (act. 1509–1547) |id=70825}} 
*{{Cite ODNB |last=Smith |first=A. Hassell |year=2004 |title=Bacon, Sir Nathaniel (1546?–1622) |id=998}}
*{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Hassell |year=2002 |editor1-last=Harper-Bill |editor1-first=Christopher |chapter=Concept and Compromise: Sir Nicholas Bacon and the Building of Stiffkey Hall |title=East Anglia's History; Studies in Honour of Norman Scarfe |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |publisher=Boydell Press |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqONjtRcVfMC&pg=PA180 |access-date=25 March 2013 |pages=159–88 |isbn=9780851158785 }}
*{{Cite ODNB |last=Tittler |first=Robert |year=2004 |title=Bacon, Sir Nicholas (1510–1579) |id=1002}}
*{{Cite book |last=Tittler |first=Robert |year=1976 |title=Nicholas Bacon; The Making of a Tudor Statesman |location=Athens, Ohio |publisher=Ohio University Press }}
*{{Cite book |last=Ungerer |first=Gustav |year=1974 |title=A Spaniard in Elizabethan England: The Correspondence of Antonio Perez's Exile |location=London |publisher=Tamesis Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZz-yNbahgQC&pg=PA278 |access-date=25 March 2013 |page=278 |isbn=9780900411847 }}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bacon, Sir Nicholas}}
*{{Cite book |last=Kimber |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Kimber |year=1771 |title=The Baronetage of England: containing a genealogical and historical account of all the English Baronets now existing, with their descents, marriages, and memorable actions both in war and peace |publisher=G. Woodfall |location=London |pages=vol. 1, pp. 2–4 |no-pp=true}}

==External links==
{{wikisource-author}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130622174906/http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenB-Bl.htm ''Elizabeth Bacon (d.1621)'', A Who's Who of Tudor Women: B-Bl]. Retrieved 25 March 2013
*[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/bacon-nicholas-1510-79 Bacon, Sir Nicholas (1510-1579), History of Parliament]. Retrieved 25 March 2013
*[https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.BACON Guide to the Sir Nicholas Bacon Collection of English Court and Manorial Documents circa 1200-1785] at the [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/scrc/ University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center]
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=7–8 |edition=Subscription |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Sir Nicholas Bacon|Sir Nicholas Bacon]]}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget|The Lord Paget]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Privy Seal]]|years=1558–1571}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|The Lord Burghley]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Nicholas Heath]]<br />'''(Lord Chancellor)'''}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Chancellor|Lord Keeper]]|years=1558–1579}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Bromley|Sir Thomas Bromley]]<br />'''(Lord Chancellor)'''}}
{{s-end}}

{{House of Tudor Lord Chancellors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Nicholas}}
[[Category:1510 births]]
[[Category:1579 deaths]]
[[Category:People from St Albans]]
[[Category:People from Chislehurst]]
[[Category:Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Lord Keepers of the Great Seal]]
[[Category:Lords Privy Seal]]
[[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]]
[[Category:Bacon family|Nicholas]]
[[Category:16th-century English knights]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:English MPs 1542–1544]]
[[Category:English MPs 1545–1547]]
[[Category:Burials at St Paul's Cathedral]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Dartmouth]]