CURZON, Francis (by 1523-91/92), of Kedleston, Derbys.

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

Constituency

Dates

Apr. 1554

Family and Education

b. by 1523, yr. s. of Richard Curzon of Kedleston by Eleanor, da. of German Pole of Radbourne. m. by 1552, Eleanor, da. of Thomas Vernon of Stokesay, Salop, 4s. 2da. suc. bro. 22 Nov. 1547.1

Offices Held

Commr. relief, Derbys. 1550, sewers, Derbys., Notts., Staffs. 1564; j.p. Derbys. 1554-58/59, 1569-d., sheriff 1567-8, 1583-4.2

Biography

A second son, Francis Curzon succeeded to the manor of Kedleston and to other lands in north and south-east Derbyshire on the death of his brother John in November 1547. His family, which traced its descent from a companion of William the Conqueror, had provided many of Derbyshire’s sheriffs and justices of the peace, and several of its knights in Parliament.3

Curzon was a newcomer to the Derbyshire commission of the peace when he was first returned to Parliament as senior knight of the shire. That he was, or was considered to be, favourable to the Marian restoration is suggested by the break in his service on the bench: having served until 1558/59, he was left off Elizabeth’s commission of December 1561 and not recommended for reinstatement in 1564. His appointment as sheriff in 1567 and return to the bench in 1569 implies that he came to accept the Anglican settlement. These were also, it seems, years of material prosperity, during which he added to the acquisitions of land begun with the purchase of Aldwark grange in 1552, but he was in financial straits for some years before his death, which took place between December 1591 and April 1592.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: C. J. Black

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from age at brother’s i.p.m., E150/757/1. The Gen. n.s. vii. 75; Harl. 5809, f. 14; Vis. Salop (Harl. Soc. xxix), 472.
  • 2. CPR, 1553, p. 352; 1553-4, p. 18; 1563-6, p. 38; SP11/5/6; J. C. Cox, Derbys. Annals, i. 237.
  • 3. J. C. Cox, Derbys. Churches, iii. 171, 179.
  • 4. Cam. Misc. ix(3), 43-44; CPR, 1550-3, p. 433; 1563-6, p. 270; 1566-9, p. 339; HMC Rutland, i. 208; Lysons, Magna Britannia, v. 260; Cox. Derbys. Churches, i. 449-50; CP25(2)/102, files 1164, 1182, 1199; APC, xxiii. 71.