YORK, Peter (c.1542-89), of Gouthwaite, Yorks.

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

Constituency

Dates

1589

Family and Education

b. c.1542, end but 1st surv. s. of Sir John York. educ. Peterhouse, Camb. 1555; M. Temple 1557. m. Nov. 1560, Elizabeth, da. of Sir William Ingleby of Ripley, 4s. 1da. suc. fa. 1569.

Offices Held

Biography

York inherited, and extended by purchase, extensive estates in Nidderdale and Craven, as well as acquiring his own establishment upon a fortunate marriage. He had town houses in York and London, but made no attempt to establish himself in his father’s mercantile and financial circles. He was never put on the commission of the peace, probably because, unlike his father, he was at heart a Catholic. His wife was an open recusant, one younger brother was in arms with the rebels in 1569, and another died a Catholic in the service of Spain. Why, with this background, York should suddenly have wished to be returned to Parliament when in his mid-forties has not been ascertained, though it is perhaps worth noting that his father, too, made but one appearance in Parliament when of mature years. Peter York’s patron at Ripon was in all probability his wife’s uncle Sir William Mallory, high steward of the borough. York was appointed to the subsidy committee on 11 Feb. 1589. He was buried on 9 Apr. following at St. Stephen Walbrook, near his parents, and his will was proved that July.

Vis. Yorks. (Harl. Soc. xvi), 172, 195-6, 357; Vis. London (Harl. Soc. i), 81; C142/151/45, 221/94; Whittaker, Deanery of Craven, 513, 532; Richmondshire, ii. 111, 350; Yorks. Arch. Jnl. xxxiii. 389; Recusant Roll 1592-3 (Cath. Rec. Soc. xviii), 78, 108; Proc. Leeds Philosoph. and Lit. Soc. x(6), pp. 210, 223; CSP Dom. Add. 1566-79, p. 156; D’Ewes, 431; Reg. St. Stephen Walbrook (Harl. Soc. xlix), i. 83; York Wills (Yorks. Arch. Soc. rec. ser. xxii), 145.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: P. W. Hasler

Notes