Francis Carew (politician, around 1530)

Sir Francis Carew (* uncertain: 1530 - May 16, 1611 ) was an English nobleman and politician who was once elected as a member of the House of Commons .

Origin and youth

Francis Carew came from the Carew family of Beddington , Surrey . He was a son of Sir Nicholas Carew and his wife Elizabeth Bryan. His father was an influential courtier at the court of King Henry VIII , but who fell from grace and was executed in 1539. Carew's mother was now at the mercy of the king, but as the sister of Sir Francis Bryan , a favorite of the king, she did not have to live in poverty even after her husband's conviction. Carew probably grew up with Nicholas Throckmorton in the household of Queen Catherine Parr .

Service under Mary the Catholic and Elizabeth I.

In 1553 Carew entered the service of the new Queen Mary the Catholic , who in 1554 returned large parts of his father's possessions, which had previously been received by Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche . She later gave him possessions of the expropriated Marquess of Northampton , and when Maria died in 1558 Carew again owned almost all of the properties his father had owned in Surrey and Sussex . Carew also remained in the favor of the new Queen Elizabeth I and her minister William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley . In 1561 he accompanied his sister Anne when she visited her husband Throckmorton, who was serving as ambassador in Paris. Cecil then asked Throckmorton whether he thought Carew would be suitable as a diplomat, which the latter denied. After Carew had turned down the post of ambassador to Scotland in December 1572, he was finally no longer considered as a diplomat. In 1563 Carew had been elected as MP for the Borough Castle Rising in Norfolk . He owed this choice to Throckmorton, who was friends with the Duke of Norfolk , who had a dominant influence on the borough. However, nothing is known about Carew's activity in the House of Commons, and Carew did not run again in the next election in 1571 or in subsequent elections. Instead, he held various offices in Surrey. He had already served as sheriff from 1567 to 1568 , from around 1573 he served as justice of the peace and from 1587 as deputy lieutenant . In 1576 he was knighted . Despite his advanced age, Carew was called up in 1588 as a soldier to defend the Spanish Armada in Dover . In the following years he was called up several times as a soldier without ever being involved in a real fight. Although he often stayed at the royal court, he asked Queen Elisabeth for a fief as a reward for the first time in 1594. Given his long service, the Queen arranged for Carew to be given a fiefdom in the Diocese of Winchester .

Expansion of Beddington Place

Beddington Place, which was significantly expanded by Francis Carew, but which was significantly modified in the 19th century by the Beddington Carews manor

Carew had the great hall built in the family estate Beddington Place , where Queen Elizabeth was a guest for three days in 1599. Her successor James I was also a guest in Beddington. Carew had plants from the Mediterranean region planted in his garden, including myrtle bushes and lemon and pomegranate trees . Sir Walter Raleigh , who was related to him , brought orange trees to him in Beddington, which are considered to be the first orange trees in England. Carew remained unmarried and childless. He died an old man, his main heir was his nephew Nicholas Throckmorton , who then took the name Carew and had an epitaph for his uncle built in St Mary's Church in Beddington . Carew bequeathed the Walton estate in Staffordshire to his nephew, Sir Francis Darcy .

Web links

• Roger Virgoe: CAREW, Francis (? 1530-1611), of Beddington, Surr. (History of Parliament Online, Ref Volumes: 1558–1603)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Historic England: BEDDINGTON PLACE (GREAT HALL ONLY). Retrieved June 5, 2017 . 
2. ^ Historic England: Beddington Place, Beddington, Greater London. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .