He was created Lord Hussey, of Sleaford, by King Henry VIII in 1529.[5] On 3 November 1529 he was re-elected to Parliament as knight of the shire for Lincolnshire but received a Writs of Summons on 1 December 1529 to the House of Lords as 'Johannes Hussey de sleford, chivaler'. In June 1530, Hussey was named Lincolnshire Castle's Commissioner for Gaol Delivery, and later that same year, Hussey sold some of his large holdings (the Somersetshire manors of Batheaston, Bathampton, Bathford, Twerton; the Wiltshire manors of Compton Bassett, Comerwell, and North Wraxall).[6]
Henry VIII "lodged" at Hussey's Sleaford estate where he held court the next morning before venturing to York to meet with the King of Scotland.[7]
Hussey was Chamberlain to King Henry's daughter, Mary, while Hussey's second wife, Lady Anne, was one of Mary's attendants. Though King Henry forbade anyone from calling his daughter, Mary, by the title of Princess, Lady Anne did do so, after which she lost her attendant position around June 1534 and was imprisoned in the Tower of London in August. Asking for the King's pardon, she was released before the end of the year.[9][unreliable source]
In addition to his responsibilities at Court and Parliament, Hussey was steward to John Longland, the conservative Bishop of Lincoln,[10] and King Henry's confessor.[11]
Downfall
Hussey Tower: The ruins of Lord Hussey's medieval manor house – Hussey Tower – are all that is left following the orders of King Henry VIII to destroy it.[12][13]
Hussey was implicated along with his cousin Lord Darcy as complicit in the 1536 uprising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Though Hussey denied participation in the rebellion, he was accused of conspiring to change laws and depose the king, and that he abetted those who made war on the king in October 1536.[14] The charges may have been levied in part because of Hussey's Catholic sympathies,[15] and because Hussey and his wife, having served 'Princess' Mary, were partisans on her behalf.[16] Hussey was indicted and tried for treason, and found guilty by the House of Lords. He was beheaded in Lincoln on 29 June 1537,[1] while his cousin, Thomas Darcy, was executed on Tower Hill.[9] Hussey's statement ("confession") survives.[17]
Family
John Hussey firstly married Margaret Barr (née Blount), widow of Sir John Barr and daughter of Sir Simon Blount,[18][19][20] around 1492 at Keynsham, Gloucestershire, by whom he had issue:[21]
Sir Giles Hussey (c. 1495/1505) – Knighted by the Earl of Surrey at the Sacking of Morlaix in France in 1522,[24][25] who married Jane Pigot, and had issue.
Anne (or Agnes) Hussey, married to Sir Humphrey Browne, Justice of the Common Pleas, by whom she was the mother of Christian Browne, wife of Sir John Tufton, 1st Baronet.[27]
Dorothy Hussey, who married three times, thirdly to Thomas Pallister, and had issue.
Mary Hussey
After his execution, Hussey's home in Sleaford,[28] as well as his other estates, were confiscated by the crown. In 1563, his children were restored in Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, but Hussey's title was forfeited, and the estates were not returned.[9]
Claim of Hussey Barony
Lord Hussey's brother – Sir Robert Hussey and his son Sir Charles Hussey – adapted to the political requirements of the recently established Church of England; both serving in the office of sheriff.[29] However, the descendants of the anti-Church of England Lord Hussey, whose barony and estates were forfeited, were left in far less secure positions, both regarding their financial and social status.
Lord Hussey's descendants included Molineux Disney, a direct descendant of Sir William Hussey, who was the "Son and Heir to the said John Lord Hussey". On 21 March 1680, Molineux Disney made a claim to King Charles II that as, "son and heir, in the direct line to Lord Hussey" he was entitled to claim the Hussey barony. However, W. B. Turnbull noted in 1836 that "no entry occurs in the Lords' Journal relative to any proceedings upon it". Molineux had apparently withdrawn his application.[30]
Honours
6 December 1533, John Fewterer, Confessor-General of Syon Abbey, dedicated his book, The myrrour or glasse of Christes passion, to "the Honorable 'Lord Husey', from Syon".[9][31]
^Moule, Thomas (1837). "The English Counties Delineated, Volume 2". Virtue. p. 192. Retrieved 4 November 2017. He was created Lord Hussey, of Sleaford, by King Henry VIII in 1529.
^Stanley, Earl of Derby, Edward (1890). Correspondence of Edward, Third Earl of Derby, During the Years 24 to 31 Henry VIII.: Preserved in a Ms. in the Possession of Miss Pfarington, of Worden Hall, Volume 19. Chetham Society. p. 89.
^Reslen, E. (21 November 2017). "Town and Country Magazine". Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 21 November 2017. Family Tree – Lord Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford m. (married) Dame Margaret Barr nee Blount...
Clarke, Roy Leggitt (December 1995). Finton, Kenneth Harper (ed.). THE HUSSEY CONNECTION TO THE PLANTAGENET LINEAGE(PDF). Heliotrope. pp. 330–376. Retrieved 1 November 2017. There is much information on the Hussey's going back to King John of the Plantagenet's.....The Hussey family had lost their land holdings a few generations before for political reasons, but retained their title without benefit of land. There is the distinct possibility that John is indeed the son of George Hussey. – by Kenneth Harper Finton, Editor
The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Original from the University of Virginia: Kentucky Historical Society. 1962. p. 55. Retrieved 22 November 2017. The Husseys, who came from England via Holland with Governor Winthrop on March 9, 1632, were descended from Lord Hussey, chief butler of England under Henry VIII. He was beheaded in 1537 for favoring the pilgrimage of grace. He lived in Boston, Lincolnshire.
