George Shirley, 1st Baronet

Sir George Shirley (1559-1622) was an English landowner and the second man to be created a baronet. He was the son of John (1535-70), eldest son of Francis Shirley (1515-71) of Staunton Harold, and Jane, only daughter and heir of Thomas Lovett of Astwell, Northants.[1] The family inclined to Roman Catholicism and one of his sisters, Elizabeth Shirley, became a nun,[2] but generally they maintained sufficient conformity to avoid the penalties for recusancy.

Inheriting the estate as a minor, George's wardship was granted by the queen to the courtier Mary Cheke,[3] who sold it on to Sir John Throckmorton.[4] George matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford in 1573.[5] In 1584 he was questioned concerning his links to Sir John's son Francis in relation to the Throckmorton Plot.[6]

The following year he made preparations to serve with the Earl of Leicester in the Netherlands,[7] although he does not appear in the lists of Leicester's retinue.[8] Sir John presumably intended to marry George to one of his own daughters, but instead accepted £1,500 to allow him to choose his own bride. He married Frances (1561-95), the daughter of Henry, lord Berkeley and his first wife Katherine, the daughter of the Earl of Surrey.[4] with whom he had 5 children, including his heir Henry and the Catholic antiquary Sir Thomas Shirley.[9] He subsequently married Dorothy, the widow of the diplomat Sir Henry Unton. [10]

In 1603, as sheriff of Northampton, he accompanied James I of England on his way through the county on his way to London. [11] He died in 1622 and was buried at Breedon on the Hill, where he had erected a monument after the death of his first wife. [12] On his death he owned property in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire, and an income from which he was able to draw several legacies of £2000 each.[13]

  1. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. pp. 62–73.
  2. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 80.
  3. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 83.
  4. ^ a b Broadway, Jan (2021). The Wives of the Berkeleys. p. 56. ISBN 9780956742810.
  5. ^ Foster, Joseph (1892). Alumni Oxonienses. p. 1352.
  6. ^ CSPD Elizabeth 1580-91. p. 184.
  7. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 83.
  8. ^ Adams, Simon (2002). Leicester and the Court. pp. 393–8. ISBN 9780719053252.
  9. ^ "Shirley, Sir Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47732. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 96.
  11. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 85.
  12. ^ Shirley, E. P. (c. 1873). Stemmata Shirleiana. Westminster. p. 96.
  13. ^ "Shirley, Sir Henry, second baronet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70620. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)