OLDSWORTH, Edward (d. by Mar. 1574), of Poulton, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

s. of one Oldsworth of Poulton m. Tacy, da. of Arthur Porter, at least 2s. inc. Arnold 2da.

Offices Held

Escheator, Glos. 1566-7.

Biography

In the election of 1559 Aylesbury returned Arthur Porter and Thomas Crawley. Crawley died during this Parliament and Edward Oldsworth, probably already Porter’s son-in-law, was returned at a by-election, presumably through Porter’s influence with Sir Thomas Pakington, lord of the borough. The only reference to him in the journals is to his being granted leave of absence on 23 Feb. 1559.

Little is known of Oldsworth. He seems to have held no county offices, other than the escheatorship. He received a confirmation of his arms in 1569, and may have died soon afterwards. No will or inquisition post mortem is known. He may have shared Porter’s protestant outlook: one member of the family was a Marian exile, and Oldsworth’s widow’s will, made in 1573 or early 1574, proved in 1576, suggests puritanism. Arnold, the future clerk of the hanaper, was ‘bequeathed’ to the radical dean of St. Paul’s, Alexander Nowell; Archdeacon Eaton of Gloucester was to supervise the upbringing of another son, Thomas; while the two daughters, Dorothy and Margaret, were to be brought up by Giles Codrington and Lady Arnold respectively.

CJ, i. 55; Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 256; PCC 38 Carew; Bristol and Glos Arch. Soc. Trans. vi. 184.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: N. M. Fuidge

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.