 1565 - 1603 (38 years)
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| Name |
Edward Norris [1] |
| Prefix |
Sir |
| Birth |
1565 |
Rycote, Oxfordshire, England  [2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| _FSFTID |
LDCW-5SP |
| _FSLINK |
https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor&person=LDCW-5SP |
| Death |
Oct 1603 |
Ireland [1, 2] |
| Burial |
Englefield, Berkshire, England [1] |
| Notes |
- [2706494.FTW]
From the 1911 Edition Encyclopedia by by PageWise, Inc.:
Sir EDWARD NORRIS (d. 1603), the 1st Lord Norriss third son, served with t he English troops in the Netherlands from 1585 to 1588. He is chiefly reme mbered owing to his fierce quarrel with Philip, count of Hohenlohe (155016 06), called Hollock by the English, in August 1586 at Gertruydenberg (s ee J. L. Motley, The United Netherlands, vol. ii.). In. 1589 he sailed wi th his brother Sir John and Sir Francis Drake on the expedition to Spain a nd Portugal, and from 1590 to 1599 he was governor of Ostend.
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/enorreys.html
Edward Norreys (d.1603)
Born: circa 1552
Governor of Ostend
Died: October 1603 at Englefield, Berkshire
Sir Edward Norreys was the third son of Henry Norreys, Baron Norreys of Ry cote. He seems, from an early age, to have been engaged, like his more dis tinguished brother John, in military service abroad. About 1578, with h is brothers, John and Henry, he joined the English volunteers in the Low C ountries. In 1584, he was in Ireland.
Edward was elected M.P. for Abingdon in 1585, but, in the autumn of that y ear, he returned to Holland. He took command of an English company and w as soon made lieutenant to Sir Philip Sidney, who had been appointed Gover nor of Flushing, one of the towns temporarily handed over to Queen Elizabe th I as surety by the States General. Sidney did not arrive till the e nd of the year and Norreys claimed to exercise his military prerogativ es in his absence. Both Sir Roger Williams and the English envoy, Willi am Davison, sent to Lord Burghley bitter complaints of his overbearing tem per and of his want of judgment in the bestowal of patronage (11th Novemb er 1585). But, upon Sidney's arrival in November, he proved complian t. In the following April, the Earl of Leicester knighted Edward at Utrech t. In May, he took a prominent part in erecting, on the island where the R hine and Waal divide at the foot of the hills of Cleves, the strong earth en fort which is still standing and bears its original name of Schenken Sc hanz.
On 6th August 1586, Sidney and Norreys arrived in Gertruydenberg to discu ss the military situation with the Governor, Count Hohenlohe, and Sir Will iam Pelham, the Marshal of the English Army. In the evening, the office rs supped together in Hohenlohe's quarters. Norreys fancied that a rema rk made by Pelham was intended to reflect badly upon the character of h is brother, John. He expressed his resentment with irritating volubility a nd was ordered by Count Hohenlohe to keep silence. Norreys refused to obe y, whereupon the Count, who was barely sober, 'hurled a cover of a c up at his face, and cut him along the forehead.' Norreys, next morning, ch allenged his assailant to a duel and induced Sir Philip Sidney to bear t he cartel. Leicester was informed of the circumstance and began an investi gation. He wrote home that Norreys was always quarrelling with his broth er officers and was jeopardising, by his insolent demeanour, those good re lations between the Dutch and English troops which were essential to the s uccess of the campaign. The Count declared that no inferior officer was ju stified in challenging his superior in command. For the time, the quarr el was patched up but the ill-feeling generated by the dispute between t he allies was not easily dissipated. Just before Leicester finally return ed to England, in November 1587, Norreys renewed the challenge to Hohenloh e; but the Count was ill at Delft and no meeting was arranged. Hohenlohe u nreasonably blamed Leicester for Norreys's persistence in continuing the d ispute and reviewed his own part in the affair in a published tract, entit led 'Verantwoordinge…..teghens zekere Vertooch ends Remonstrancie by zij ne Excie den Grave van Leycester'.
Leicester left Norreys at Ostend, another town which had been surrender ed to the English by the Dutch in 1580 by way of surety. The English Gover nor, Sir John Conway, was absent through 1588 and Norreys acted as his dep uty. On 10th June 1588, Sir Edward wrote to Leicester that the town w as in a desperate plight and could hardly stand a siege. In 1589, he accom panied his brother, John, and Sir Francis Drake on the Great Expediti on to Portugal and was badly wounded in the assault on Burgos. His life w as only saved by the gallantry of his brother. Next year, in July 1590, Ed ward was regularly constituted Governor of Ostend. In December, he receiv ed reinforcements and ammunitions from England, in anticipation of a sie ge by the Spaniards. In February 1591, he captured Blankenbergh. But in t he April following, he embroiled himself with the States-General by levyi ng contributions on the villages of the neighbourhood. Sir Thomas Bodle y, the English envoy, declared his conduct unjustifiable and Lord Burghl ey condemned it. Accordingly, Sir Edward was summoned to London to recei ve a reprimand from the Council and was ordered to keep his house. His pre sence was, however, soon needed at Ostend and he energetically supervis ed the building of new fortifications. In 1593, when the town was believ ed to be seriously menaced, Elizabeth sent Sir Edward an encouraging lett er in her own hand, addressing him as 'Ned'. But the danger passed away a nd he was at court again in December 1593. The visit was repeated four yea rs later, when he and Sir Francis were 'gallantly followed by such as prof ess arms'. In September 1599, the Queen recalled Sir Edward to comfort h is parents for the recent loss of three of their sons and he does not se em to have resumed his post abroad.
On settling again in England, Norreys was granted, by his mother, some sma ll property at Englefield, Berkshire, with the manor of Shinfield and mu ch neighbouring land. Norreys resided at Englefield in a house on the si te of the old rectory which must be distinguished from the chief mansi on in the parish, which was in the occupation of the Paulet family. Sir Ed ward married on 17th July 1600 and, in October 1600, he presented himse lf to the Queen after his marriage. Dudley Carleton, who had been in his s ervice as private secretary at Ostend, remained for a time a member of h is household and many references to his domestic affairs appear in the let ters of Carleton's gossiping correspondent, John Chamberlain. On 27th M ay 1601, Chamberlain wrote that Norreys was dangerously sick. He was not ed 'of late,' he added, 'to make money by all means possible, as thou gh he had some great enterprise or purchase in his head'. In September 160 1, Norreys entertained the Queen to dinner at Englefield and Elizabeth w as well pleased with the entertainment.
The Christmas of 1602, Norreys kept in great state in London, and was 'mu ch visited by cavaliers'. He died in October 1603 and was buried on the 15 th at Englefield (being later removed to Rycote). A statue of him adorns t he Norreys monument in Westminster Abbey. His nephew, Francis (later Ea rl of Berkshire), succeeded to his estates. His wife Elizabeth, by wh om he had no issue, was the rich widow of one Webb of Salisbury. She w as a distant cousin of his own, being daughter of Sir John Norreys of Fyfi eld in Bray, Berkshire. Lady Norreys, after Sir Edward's death, marrie d, in 1604, Thomas Erskine, 1st Viscount Fenton and Earl of Kellie, and, d ying on 28th April 1621, was also buried at Englefield.
Heavily Edited from Leslie Stephens & Sidney Lee's "Dictionary of Nation al Biography" (1891).
«b»Sir John Norreys«/b» «i»frequently referred to as John Norris«/i» («u»1547 «/u»?-«u»1597 «/u») was a skillful and courageous English soldier of a Berkshire family of court gentry, son of «u»Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys «/u» a life-long friend of «u»Queen Elizabeth «/u». He participated in every Elizabethan theater of war: in the «u»Wars of Religion «/u» in France, in Flanders during the «u»Eighty Years War «/u» of Dutch liberation from Spain, in the «u»Anglo-Spanish War«/u» and above all in Ireland. He was the most acclaimed «u»English «/u» soldier of his day.
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| Person ID |
I2350 |
Glenn Cook Family |
| Last Modified |
26 Jan 2015 |
| Father |
Sir Henry Norreys, 1st Baron Norreys of Rycote, b. Abt 1525, Bray, Berkshire, England d. 27 Jun 1601, Rycote, Oxfordshire, England (Age ~ 76 years) |
| Mother |
Margaret Williams, Baroness Norreys of Rycote, b. Abt 1524, Thame, Oxfordshire, England d. Dec 1599 (Age ~ 75 years) |
| Marriage |
Abt 1542 |
| Family ID |
F434 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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