Life

Born about 1480, he was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley (died 3 Jan. 1526) and his wife Elizabeth (died 31 July 1513), daughter and heir of John de Michelgrove in the parish of Clapham, Sussex. Of the judge's six brothers, one, John, became a knight of the Order of St John, and was killed in defending Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

 against the Ottoman Turks

Ottoman Turks

The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...

 in 1522; from another, Edward, who is variously given as second, third, or fourth son, came the baronets of Castle Goring

Castle Goring

Castle Goring is a grade one listed country house in Worthing, in Sussex, England.The building to some extent defies categorisation, being neither fully a castle, nor is it fully in Goring. The word is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era and not...

, Sussex (created 1806), and Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...

, the poet. The youngest brother, John Shelley, died in 1554. The settlement of an estate which he purchased on the dissolution of Sion Monastery led to the lawsuit known as ‘Shelley's case,’ and the decision known as the Rule in Shelley's Case

Rule in Shelley's Case

The Rule in Shelley's Case is a rule of law that may apply to certain future interests in real property and trusts created in common law jurisdictions...

.

Although the eldest son, William was sent to the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 not to make a profession of law but in order to understand his own affairs, and according to his son it was against his will that he was made serjeant, and judge, by Henry VIII. From the beginning of Henry's reign he appears on commissions of the peace for Sussex and other counties; in 1517 he was autumn reader in the Inner Temple, and about the same time became one of the judges of the sheriff's court in London. In 1520 he was appointed recorder of London, and in May 1521 was placed on the special commission of oyer and terminer

Oyer and terminer

In English law, Oyer and terminer was the Law French name, meaning "to hear and determine", for one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat...

 to find an indictment against Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...

. In the same year he took the degree of the coif.

In 1527 Shelley was raised to the bench as judge of the common pleas, and in 1529 he was sent to demand from Thomas Wolsey the surrender of York House

York House

-Royal residences:York House was traditionally the name given, often temporarily, to houses in London, England occupied by holders of the title of Duke of York:*The Albany in Piccadilly*Cumberland House in Pall Mall*Dover House in Whitehall...

, later Whitehall Palace. Soon afterwards he entertained Henry VIII at Michelgrove.

He was summoned to parliament on 9 August 1529, and again on 27 April 1536. He was hostile to the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, and is said to have suffered from Thomas Cromwell's antipathy; but his name appears in important state trials of the period: in that of the Carthusian

Carthusian

The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. The order was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns...

 monks and John Fisher

John Fisher

Saint John Fisher was an English Roman Catholic scholastic, bishop, cardinal and martyr. He shares his feast day with Saint Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and 6 July on the Church of England calendar of saints...

 (1535), of Weston, Norris, Lord Rochford, and Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...

 (May 1536), and Sir Geoffrey Pole, Sir Edward Neville

Sir Edward Neville

Sir Edward Neville was a nobleman born at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He was the son of Sir George Neville, 2nd Lord Abergavenny and Margaret Fenne. He married Eleanor Windsor, daughter of Sir Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor and Elizabeth Blount, before 6 April 1529...

, and Sir Nicholas Carew

Nicholas Carew (courtier)

Sir Nicholas Carew KG was an English courtier and statesman during the reign of Henry VIII. He was executed for his alleged part in the Exeter Conspiracy.-Early career:...

 (1538–9).

In 1547 he was consulted by Henry VIII's executors about the provisions of his will. He died on 4 January 1549.

Family

Shelley married Alice (died 1536?), daughter of Sir Henry Belknap, great-grandson of Sir Robert de Bealknap of Knelle in the parish of Beckley

Beckley

Beckley could refer to:United Kingdom*Beckley, East Sussex, England*Beckley, Hampshire, England*Beckley, Oxfordshire, EnglandUnited States*Beckley, Louisville, Kentucky*Beckley, West Virginia...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

. By her he had four sons:

• John (died 15 December 1550), father of William (not the same person as William Shelley of Hertford, also a prisoner in the Tower in 1580), who was attainted 15 December 1582 for complicity in Charles Paget
  Charles Paget (conspirator)
  Charles Paget was a Roman Catholic conspirator, involved in the Babington plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England.He was also a double agent working for Sir Francis Walsingham....
  
  's treasons, but not executed, and died 15 April 1597, being succeeded by his son John, created a baronet in 1611;
• Sir Richard Shelley;
• the third son, Sir James, was, like Sir Richard, a distinguished and widely travelled Knight of St. John;
• the fourth, Sir Edward, was a master of the household of Henry VIII, treasurer of the council of the north, and captain of Berwick, and was killed at the battle of Pinkie on 10 September 1547.

Their daughter Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Copley

Sir Thomas Copley

Sir Thomas Copley was a prominent English Roman Catholic politician and exile of the reign of Elizabeth I. Knighted, perhaps by the king of France, and created ennobled by Philip II of Spain, he was often known by contemporaries as "Lord Copley"....

.