Sir Michael Stanhope

Sir Michael Stanhope (before 1508 – 26 February 1552) of Shelford in Nottinghamshire, was an influential courtier who was beheaded on Tower Hill, having been convicted of conspiring to assassinate John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and others.

Origins

He was born before 1508, of Rampton in Nottinghamshire, by his first wife Adelina Clifton, a daughter of Sir Gervase Clifton of Clifton and Sir Edward Stanhope fought at the Battle of Stoke in 1487 and, in 1497, at the Battle of Blackheath, where he was knighted on the field for his valour. He was a Knight of the Body and Constable of Sandal Castle.

Sir Edward Stanhope married secondly (as her third husband) Elizabeth Bourchier (d. 1557) a daughter of Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin (1445–1479), by whom he had an only daughter Anne Stanhope (c. 1510–1587), Sir Michael Stanhope's half-sister and the wife of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, eldest brother of Queen Jane Seymour

Career In 1529, following the death of his elder brother, Richard Stanhope (d. 21 January 1529), without male issue, Michael Stanhope succeeded to some of the family estates, excluding the paternal seat of Rampton which descended to his only daughter and heiress Saunchia Stanhope, the wife of John Babington. By 1532 he was in the service of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. By 1535 Stanhope's half sister, Anne Stanhope, had married Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, the eldest brother of Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII, and thus Stanhope entered the King's service. Somerset was beheaded on Tower Hill on 22 January 1552, and on 27 January Stanhope was put on trial for having "feloniously instigated Somerset to insurrection", and for "holding rebellious assemblies, for the purpose of taking, imprisoning and murdering" John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, and William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke,

Stanhope's alleged co-conspirators, Sir Thomas Arundell of Wardour, Sir Miles Partridge and Sir Ralph Vane, were all executed on the same day, Arundell being beheaded, Partridge and Vane hanged.

Marriage and children Chest tomb and effigy of Anne Rawson, wife of Sir Michael Stanhope, in the Stanhope Chapel in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Shelford, Nottinghamshire

At some time before November 1537, Stanhope married Anne Rawson (c. 1515 – 20 February 1588), a daughter of Nicholas Rawson of Aveley in Essex, by his wife Beatrix Cooke (d. 14 January 1554), a daughter of Sir Philip Cooke (d. 7 December 1503) by his wife Elizabeth Belknap (died c. 6 March 1504). Beatrix was the aunt of Sir Anthony Cooke. By his wife he had seven sons and four daughters as follows, as recorded in the inscription on her monument in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Shelford:

Sir Thomas Stanhope (1540 – 3 August 1596) of Shelford, Nottinghamshire, eldest son and heir, who married Margaret Port, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Sir John Port (d. 1557) of Etwall in Derbyshire. Sir Edward Stanhope (c. 1543–1603), a member of the Council of the North of Queen Elizabeth I . John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope of Harrington, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, elevated to the peerage by King James I. The title became extinct in 1675 on the death of his only son. Edward Stanhope (c. 1546–1608), a Doctor of Civil Law and a Master of the Court of Chancery. Sir Michael Stanhope of Sudbourne in Suffolk, one of the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I. He was knighted in 1603 by King James I. He married Elizabeth Read, a daughter of Sir William Read of Osterley in Middlesex, by whom he had two daughters and co-heiresses. His monument survives in Sudbourne Church. William Stanhope, died an infant. Edward Stanhope, died an infant. Eleanor Stanhope, who married Thomas Cooper of Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire. Juliana Stanhope, who married John Hotham (died c. 1609) of Scorborough in Yorkshire. Jane Stanhope, who married firstly Sir Roger Townshend (d.1590), and secondly (as his second wife) Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley. Margaret Stanhope, died an infant.