Edward Osborne
Encyclopedia
Sir Edward Osborne was one of the principal merchants of London in the later sixteenth century, and Lord Mayor of London
in 1583.
is assigned to 8 May 1554, although it possibly took place in 1551.cf. Gregory, Lord Mayors of the Clothworker's Company, manuscript preserved at Clothworker's Hall According to a romantic legend, which in its main feature may be accepted, Hewett's infant daughter was dropped by a careless nurse from an apartment on London Bridge
into the current below. Young Osborne immediately leaped into the river and saved the child. The date of this event must have been about 1545, as the lady, who became Osborne's wife, was twenty-three years old at the time of her father's death in January 1566-7. Pictoral representations of Osborne's feat are preserved at Clothworker's Hall and at Hornby Castle, Yorkshire
, the seat of the Duke of Leeds
.
In his early days Osborne travelled, and probably resided much abroad, principally at Madrid, and in 1561 he was well known as a merchant and financial agent.State Papers, For. Ser. 1561-2 pp. 186, 390-1, 406, 1563 p. 46 On the death of his father-in-law, in 1566-7, Osborne acted as executor jointly with his wife, and succeeded to Hewett's extensive business, his mansion in Philpot Lane, and to the greater part of his estates.
, were taken as to his knowledge of the handwriting of the Spanish ambassador.Cal. State Papers, For. 1569-71, p.34 He was at the time the owner of a well-appointed ship.ib. p. 439 He was governor of the Turkey Company
, and his name heads a list of principal members of the company on a petition to the lord treasurer in 1584 to be 'mean [mediator] unto her Majesty for the loan of ten thousand pounds' weight of bullion for certain years for the better maintenance of their trade.' He made zealous efforts to procure a charter for the company, and before and after its incorporation he frequently petitioned the court for redress of injuries committed upon their fleet, trade, and factors by pirates and others.State Papers, Dom. 1547-80 p. 512, 1581-90 p.19 He represented that the company was willing to pay the expenses of the queen's ambassador at Constantinople. These negotiations continued through 1590 and 1591,ib. 1581-90 pp. 37, 657, 671-2, 1591-4 pp. 59, 88-9 and the company was finally incorporated under the title of 'Merchants of the Levant trading to Turkey and Venice,' with Osborne as their first governor.
The first record of Osborne's connection with the company is under date of 23 September 1571, when he appears at a court meeting of the governors of St. Thomas's Hospital. On 5 Nov. following he was elected treasurer of the hospital,Notes and Queries, 7th ser. vii. 422, 423 and served the office of president from 1586 to 1591.Remembrancia, p. 156n On 7 July 1573 he was elected alderman of Castle Baynard Ward, removing to Candlewick
Ward on 10 July 1576. He became Sheriff of the City of London on 1 August 1575, and was chosen Lord Mayor on 29 September 1583. On 14 December he asked Francis Walsingham
to prevent carriers travelling in the suburbs of London by packhorse or cart on the sabbath-day.Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581-90, p. 136 On 31 December he informed the council that he had committed to Bridewell Irish beggars found in the streets of London, and asked that they might be sent back to Ireland and no more permitted to come to London.ib. p. 142 More than once during his year of office he had occasion to vindicate the city's right to appoint persons of their own choice to vacant city officesib. pp. 159, 187; cf. Stow, Survey of London, ii.542
As a leading member of the Clothworker's Company, Osborne was frequently appointed by the crown, alone or with others, to adjudicate in commercial disputes, especially those relating to the cloth trade.State Papers, Dom. 1581-90, pp. 202, 411; Acts of Privy Council, Dasent, viii. 166-7, 194-5; cf. Lansdowne MSS. xxxviii. No. 16 Like other merchants, Osborne had considerable money transactions with the principal personages of his time.Hunter, South Yorkshire, 1828, i. 142 Osborne was knighted at Westminster on 2 Feb. in the year of his mayoralty, and was also elected to represent the city in parliament in 1586. He died in 1591, and was buried at St. Dionis Backchurch, where a monument existed to his memory until the destruction of the church in the Great Fire of London
. Soon after his marriage he appears to have lived in Sir William Hewett's house in Philpot Lane, as all his children were baptised in the parish church of St. Dionis. The Yorkshire estates, also left by his father-in-law, were too distant for residence, and Osborne made his country home at Parslowes, where he built a manor-house of moderate pretensions. He left no will, and no grant of administration of his estate is on record. It is probable that he settled his whole estate by deed at the time of his second marriage.
, Essex, besides lands in Wales and Harthill
in Yorkshire, and died at an early age, being buried at St. Martin Orgars on 14 July 1585. By her he had five children — viz. Alice, baptised in March 1562-1563; Hewett, afterwards knighted, born March 1566-7; Anne, born March 1570; Edward, born November 1572; and Jane, born November 1578.Registers of St. Dionis Backchurch: Hart. Soc. passim Osborne married, secondly (15 September 1588), Margaret Chapman of St. Olave's, Southwark, by whom he had no issue. She died in 1602 (having married, secondly, Robert Clark, a baron of the exchequer), and was buried beside her first husband in St. Dionis Backchurch.
Osborne's daughter Alice married Sir John Peyton, 1st Baronet
in 1580. Osborne's grandson, Sir Edward Osborne, of Kiveton
, Yorkshire, created a baronet 13 July 1620, was the son of Sir Hewett Osborne, and father of Sir Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
. A half-length portrait of Osborne in armour is in the possession of the Duke of Leeds. A copy of this portrait is in Clothworkers' Hall.
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1583.
Early life
Osborne was the eldest son of Richard Osborne of Ashford, Kent, by his wife, Jane Broughton. In May 1547—although another account makes the date three years later—he was apprenticed to Sir William Hewett, clothworker, one of the principal merchants of London and lord mayor in 1559. His admission to the freedom of the Worshipful Company of ClothworkersWorshipful Company of Clothworkers
The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, formed by the amalgamation of its two predecessor Companies, the Fullers and the Shearmen...
is assigned to 8 May 1554, although it possibly took place in 1551.cf. Gregory, Lord Mayors of the Clothworker's Company, manuscript preserved at Clothworker's Hall According to a romantic legend, which in its main feature may be accepted, Hewett's infant daughter was dropped by a careless nurse from an apartment on London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
into the current below. Young Osborne immediately leaped into the river and saved the child. The date of this event must have been about 1545, as the lady, who became Osborne's wife, was twenty-three years old at the time of her father's death in January 1566-7. Pictoral representations of Osborne's feat are preserved at Clothworker's Hall and at Hornby Castle, Yorkshire
Hornby Castle, Yorkshire
Hornby Castle, Yorkshire was a fourteenth and fifteenth-century courtyard castle in Swaledale. It was largely rebuilt in the fifteenth century by William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers after the Conyers family had inherited it, but retained the fourteenth-century St...
, the seat of the Duke of Leeds
Duke of Leeds
Duke of Leeds was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1694 for the prominent statesman Thomas Osborne, 1st Marquess of Carmarthen...
.
In his early days Osborne travelled, and probably resided much abroad, principally at Madrid, and in 1561 he was well known as a merchant and financial agent.State Papers, For. Ser. 1561-2 pp. 186, 390-1, 406, 1563 p. 46 On the death of his father-in-law, in 1566-7, Osborne acted as executor jointly with his wife, and succeeded to Hewett's extensive business, his mansion in Philpot Lane, and to the greater part of his estates.
Merchant and politician
Osborne engaged extensively in foreign commerce, trading principally with Spain and Turkey. On 17 February 1569 his depositions, together with those of John StowJohn Stow
John Stow was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
, were taken as to his knowledge of the handwriting of the Spanish ambassador.Cal. State Papers, For. 1569-71, p.34 He was at the time the owner of a well-appointed ship.ib. p. 439 He was governor of the Turkey Company
Levant Company
The Levant Company, or Turkey Company, was an English chartered company formed in 1581, to regulate English trade with Turkey and the Levant...
, and his name heads a list of principal members of the company on a petition to the lord treasurer in 1584 to be 'mean [mediator] unto her Majesty for the loan of ten thousand pounds' weight of bullion for certain years for the better maintenance of their trade.' He made zealous efforts to procure a charter for the company, and before and after its incorporation he frequently petitioned the court for redress of injuries committed upon their fleet, trade, and factors by pirates and others.State Papers, Dom. 1547-80 p. 512, 1581-90 p.19 He represented that the company was willing to pay the expenses of the queen's ambassador at Constantinople. These negotiations continued through 1590 and 1591,ib. 1581-90 pp. 37, 657, 671-2, 1591-4 pp. 59, 88-9 and the company was finally incorporated under the title of 'Merchants of the Levant trading to Turkey and Venice,' with Osborne as their first governor.
The first record of Osborne's connection with the company is under date of 23 September 1571, when he appears at a court meeting of the governors of St. Thomas's Hospital. On 5 Nov. following he was elected treasurer of the hospital,Notes and Queries, 7th ser. vii. 422, 423 and served the office of president from 1586 to 1591.Remembrancia, p. 156n On 7 July 1573 he was elected alderman of Castle Baynard Ward, removing to Candlewick
Candlewick
Candlewick is a small ward, one of the 25 ancient wards in the City of London.Its northern boundary runs along Lombard Street the boundary with Langbourn Ward, then east down Gracechurch Street the division with Bridge Ward to the Monument, erected to commemorate the place where the Great Fire abated...
Ward on 10 July 1576. He became Sheriff of the City of London on 1 August 1575, and was chosen Lord Mayor on 29 September 1583. On 14 December he asked Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
to prevent carriers travelling in the suburbs of London by packhorse or cart on the sabbath-day.Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581-90, p. 136 On 31 December he informed the council that he had committed to Bridewell Irish beggars found in the streets of London, and asked that they might be sent back to Ireland and no more permitted to come to London.ib. p. 142 More than once during his year of office he had occasion to vindicate the city's right to appoint persons of their own choice to vacant city officesib. pp. 159, 187; cf. Stow, Survey of London, ii.542
As a leading member of the Clothworker's Company, Osborne was frequently appointed by the crown, alone or with others, to adjudicate in commercial disputes, especially those relating to the cloth trade.State Papers, Dom. 1581-90, pp. 202, 411; Acts of Privy Council, Dasent, viii. 166-7, 194-5; cf. Lansdowne MSS. xxxviii. No. 16 Like other merchants, Osborne had considerable money transactions with the principal personages of his time.Hunter, South Yorkshire, 1828, i. 142 Osborne was knighted at Westminster on 2 Feb. in the year of his mayoralty, and was also elected to represent the city in parliament in 1586. He died in 1591, and was buried at St. Dionis Backchurch, where a monument existed to his memory until the destruction of the church in the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
. Soon after his marriage he appears to have lived in Sir William Hewett's house in Philpot Lane, as all his children were baptised in the parish church of St. Dionis. The Yorkshire estates, also left by his father-in-law, were too distant for residence, and Osborne made his country home at Parslowes, where he built a manor-house of moderate pretensions. He left no will, and no grant of administration of his estate is on record. It is probable that he settled his whole estate by deed at the time of his second marriage.
Family
Osborne was first married, in 1562, to Anne Hewett, then about eighteen years old, and her father's sole heiress. She brought him an estate in BarkingBarking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
, Essex, besides lands in Wales and Harthill
Harthill
Harthill could be*Harthill, Cheshire*Harthill, Derbyshire*Harthill, Scotland, on the border of North Lanarkshire and West Lothian*Harthill, South Yorkshire*Harthill a former wapentake in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
in Yorkshire, and died at an early age, being buried at St. Martin Orgars on 14 July 1585. By her he had five children — viz. Alice, baptised in March 1562-1563; Hewett, afterwards knighted, born March 1566-7; Anne, born March 1570; Edward, born November 1572; and Jane, born November 1578.Registers of St. Dionis Backchurch: Hart. Soc. passim Osborne married, secondly (15 September 1588), Margaret Chapman of St. Olave's, Southwark, by whom he had no issue. She died in 1602 (having married, secondly, Robert Clark, a baron of the exchequer), and was buried beside her first husband in St. Dionis Backchurch.
Osborne's daughter Alice married Sir John Peyton, 1st Baronet
Sir John Peyton, 1st Baronet
Sir John Peyton, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1611....
in 1580. Osborne's grandson, Sir Edward Osborne, of Kiveton
Kiveton Park
Kiveton Park, informally Kiveton , is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Norman conquest to 1868, Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall...
, Yorkshire, created a baronet 13 July 1620, was the son of Sir Hewett Osborne, and father of Sir Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...
. A half-length portrait of Osborne in armour is in the possession of the Duke of Leeds. A copy of this portrait is in Clothworkers' Hall.