CORNWALLIS, Henry (by 1532-99), of Brome, Suff. and Buxton, Norf.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Mar. 1553

Family and Education

b. by 1532, 2nd s. of Sir John Cornwallis of Brome by Mary, da. of Edward Sulyard of Otes, Essex; bro. of Sir Thomas. m. 2s. 2da.1

Offices Held

Biography

Henry Cornwallis was one of the less prominent members of his family. His election to the second Edwardian Parliament he presumably owed to his brother Sir Thomas, who as sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk was the returning officer. Nothing is known about his part in the House. During the succession crisis following the King’s death he seems to have followed his brother’s example in rallying to Mary, as the Queen gave him an annuity of £13 6s.8d. for service at Framlingham. His brother’s closeness to the Queen suggests that Cornwallis’s meeting with (Sir) John Cheke, Sir Thomas Wroth and other exiles in Padua in August 1554 had official approval. He had returned from the Continent by early 1555 when he was instructed with a younger brother to search for an escaped prisoner in Suffolk. Several other minor tasks were assigned to him before Mary’s death but he was to play little part in local affairs during the remaining 40 years of his life. By his will made on 4 Jan. 1599 Cornwallis asked to be buried in Brome church, ‘happy to be saved by Christ’s passion only, and numbered among the elect’. He provided for his surviving children and grandchildren and left an annuity of £4 to his brother William, a seminary priest, then a ‘prisoner in the Clink’. His executor and residuary legatee, his son Henry, proved the will at Norwich on 4 July 1599.2

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: M. K. Dale

Notes

  • 1. Presumed to be of age on election. Vis. Suff. ed. Metcalfe, 22; Norwich consist. ct. 124 Pecke; PCC 11 Pynnyng.
  • 2. Lansd. 156, f. 94; Cam. Misc. x(2), 116; C. H. Garrett, Marian Exiles, 128-9; APC, v. 100; Norwich consist. ct. 124 Pecke; Blomefield, Norf. vi. 446; G. Anstruther, Seminary Priests, i. 89; Norf. and Norwich Arch. Soc. xiii. 62, 71-72; xvii. 330.