Sir Robert Drury (c. 1503 – 21 May 1577) of Hedgerley and Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, was the second son of Sir Robert Drury, Speaker of the House of Commons, and was the father of Sir Robert Drury (1525–1593), Sir William Drury, and Sir Drue Drury. He was active in local administration in Buckinghamshire, and a Member of Parliament for that county. His name appears in the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.[1][2]

Family


Church of Chalfont St Peter where Sir Robert Drury is buried
Robert Drury, born about 1503, was the second son of Sir Robert Drury (before 1456 – 2 March 1535), Speaker of the House of Commons, and Anne Calthorpe, daughter of Sir William Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk.[3] He had an elder brother, and four sisters:[3]

Sir William Drury (c.1500 – 11 January 1558), who married firstly, Jane Saint Maur, daughter and heiress of Sir William Saint Maur of Beckington, Somerset, by whom he had no issue,[4] and secondly Elizabeth Sothill (c.1505 – 19 May 1575), one of the twin daughters[5] and co-heirs of Henry Sothill, esquire, of Stoke Faston, Leicestershire, and Joan Empson, daughter of Sir Richard Empson,[6] by whom he had four sons and thirteen daughters.[4]

Anne Drury, who married firstly George Waldegrave, esquire (c.1483 – 8 July 1528) of Smallbridge, Suffolk, and secondly Sir Thomas Jermyn (c.1500 – 1552) of Rushbrooke, Suffolk.

Elizabeth Drury, who married, in 1510, Sir Philip Boteler.
Bridget Drury, who married Sir John Jerningham (1515) of Somerleyton, Suffolk, by whom she had three sons, George, Robert and John, and two daughters, Anne, who married Sir Thomas Cornwallis of Brome, Suffolk, and Elizabeth, who married Sir John Sulyard of Wetherden Hall, Suffolk.[7]
Ursula Drury (d.1521), who married Sir Giles Alington of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire.
Career[edit]

Drury was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 12 February 1522. However his marriage to an heiress shortly thereafter is said to have 'spared him the need to practise law'. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in Buckinghamshire from 1534-1543 and again in 1554, and served on numerous commissions in that county. In 1544-5 he was appointed escheator for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and in 1546-7, 1555-6 and 1561-2 was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.[8]

In 1538 a manor owned by Drury's father-in-law, Edmund Brudenell, came into Drury's hands, and he augmented the property by purchasing neighbouring monastic lands and other properties. In 1538 he purchased the manor of Temple Bulstrode in Hedgerley, and in 1541 the chief manor in Chalfont St Peter. In 1556 he was granted licence to empark 400 acres at Hedgerley

In addition to his activities in local government Drury attended court on state occasions, served with the King's forces at the time of the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, participated as a commissioner when Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, Sir Edward Neville and others were tried for treason in 1538, and in 1544 was in the forces mustered to serve in Henry VIII's war against France. He is said to have been knighted by August 1548.[8][9]
Perhaps as a result of Catholic sympathies Drury did not serve as a Justice of the Peace during the reign of King Edward VI. He was among the first to support Mary Tudor's claim to the throne in July 1553, and was later awarded a pension of £66 13s 4d for his service in her cause.[8] In October 1533 he sat as one of the two Knights of the Shire for Buckinghamshire in the first Parliament of Mary's reign. His son, Robert, was elected as MP for Chipping Wycombe in the same Parliament. He was among the noblemen, members of the gentry, and divines who attended when Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was tried for heresy in 1555. In 1564, six years after Queen Elizabeth's accession, he was termed a ‘hinderer of religion’, but in 1569 accepted the Act of Uniformity in connection with his appointment to a commission of the peace.

As noted in the Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Huntington Library, Drury's name appears on folio i verso of the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales:

On f. i verso, s. XVI2/4, “Robertus drury miles [space], William drury miles, Robertus drury miles, domina Jarmin, domina Jarningam, dommina Alington,” referring to Sir Robert Drury (mentioned above as executor; speaker of the House of Commons in 1495 and a member of Henry VIII’s Council), to his sons William and Robert, and to his 3 daughters: Anna, married first to George Waldegrave, and after his death in 1528 to Sir Thomas Jermyn; Bridget, married to Sir John Jernyngham (Jernegan, of Somerleyton); Ursula (d. 1521), married to Sir Giles Alington.

Drury made his last will on 12 and 28 April 1577, requesting burial by his wife in the church of Chalfont St Peter. Drury named his three surviving sons, Robert, Sir William and Drue as executors, and appointed as supervisors Sir William Cordell, Master of the Rolls, Sir Thomas Cornwallis, Sir Christopher Heydon, and his son-in-law, Robert Woodleaf. Drury died at Hedgerley on 21 May.

Marriage and issue

Drury married by 1524, Elizabeth Brudenell (d. 12 December 1542),[11] the daughter of Edmund Brudenell of Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, by whom he was the father of five sons and four daughters:

Robert Drury (1525–1593), esquire, eldest son and heir, who married, by 1544, Anne Boorman or Bowerman, the daughter of Nicholas Boorman or Bowerman of Brook in the Isle of Wight and his wife Anne or Elizabeth Russell, sister of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, by whom he had two sons and three daughters.

Sir William Drury (2 October 1527 – 13 October 1579), who married, on 10 October 1560, Margaret, the daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth, and widow of John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame, by whom he had three daughters

Sir Drue Drury (1531/2–1617), who married firstly, about 1565, Elizabeth Calthorpe, the daughter and heir of Sir Philip Calthorpe of Cockthorpe, Norfolk, by whom he had no issue, and secondly, in 1582, Katherine Finch (d.1601), the daughter and heir of William Finch of Lynsted, Kent, by whom he had one son and three daughters.

Roger Drury, who died without issue.

Edmund Drury, of Horton, Buckinghamshire.
Anne Drury, who married Robert Woodleif or Woodleaf (by 1516-93), esquire, of Aylesbury and Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
Margaret Drury, who married, as his second wife, Henry Trenchard, esquire.
Lucy Drury, who married Robert Tesche, gentleman.
Elizabeth Drury, who married Rowland Hynde, esquire, of Hedsworth.