William Drury

Sir William Drury (c. 1500 – 11 January 1558) was an English politician who was a Member of Parliament and a Privy Councillor. He was the son and heir of Sir Robert Drury. His name appears in the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Family

William Drury, born about 1500, was the elder son of Sir Robert Drury, Speaker of the House of Commons, and Anne Calthorpe, daughter of Sir William Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. He had a younger brother, and four sisters: 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. They were maternal grandparents of Thomas Cornwallis. Ursula Drury, who married Sir Giles Alington of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire.

Career Drury was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 12 February 1517, and entered the service of King Henry VIII before his father's death. In 1521 he accompanied Cardinal Wolsey to Calais. He was knighted in 1533 at the coronation of Anne Boleyn. In 1536 he was High Sheriff of Suffolk and Norfolk, and in the same year equipped 100 men to accompany the King's forces under Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, at the time of the Pilgrimage of Grace. In 1539 he was a commissioner for the defence of the coast of Suffolk. In the following year he was appointed a Groom of the Privy Chamber when Anne of Cleves arrived in England as Henry VIII's fourth bride. In 1544 he was again appointed High Sheriff of Suffolk and Norfolk.

During the succession crisis after the death of King Edward VI, although he had been expected to aid Northumberland in his attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, Drury instead threw his support behind Princess Mary, and was appointed to the Privy Council early in Mary's reign.

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.

Marriages and children Drury married firstly, before 7 February 1516, Jane Saint Maur, daughter and heiress of Sir William Saint Maur of Beckington, Somerset, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Edgecombe. She died in childbirth in 1517, and there were no issue of the marriage.

Drury married secondly, before February 1521, Elizabeth Sothill (c.1505 – 19 May 1575), one of the twin daughters and co-heirs of Henry Sothill, esquire, of Stoke Faston, Leicestershire, and Joan Empson, daughter of Sir Richard Empson, by whom he had four sons and thirteen daughters:

Robert Drury (13 February 1524 – 7 December 1557), esquire, who married Audrey Rich, daughter of Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, Lord Chancellor of England, by whom he had four sons, including Sir William Drury, and eight daughters. William Drury. Henry Drury (born 6 April 1539), who married Elizabeth Isaac. by whom she had three sons, Sir William Heydon (d.1594), Henry, and Christopher, and four daughters, Mary, who married Thomas Blennerhasset, esquire, of Barsham, Suffolk; Ursula, who married Sir Roger Townshend; Elizabeth, who married Sir John Wentworth of Mountneys, Essex; and Jane. Mary Drury (30 June 1526 – c. 16 June 1594), Elizabeth Drury (again), who married Sir Robert Drury of Rougham, Suffolk.