GLEANE, Sir Peter (1564-1633), of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, Norf.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
Available from Cambridge University Press

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

bap. 27 June 1564,1 o.s. of Thomas Gleane† of Norwich, alderman and draper or mercer, and Alice, da. of Robert Wolmer of Shottisham, Suff.2 educ. BA Clare, Camb.3 m. 1584, Maud (d. bef. 7 May 1633), da. of Robert Suckling† of St. Andrew’s, Norwich, 3s. 2da.4 suc. fa. 1602;5 kntd. 13 June 1624.6 bur. 10 May 1633.7 sig. Peter Gleane.

Offices Held

Freeman, Norwich 1606,8 alderman 1606-d., sheriff 1610-11, auditor 1614-15, member, Chamberlains’ Council 1614-15, mayor 1615-16;9 commr. sewers, Norf. 1607, Norwich 1611, 1621,10 oyer and terminer 1616-d.,11 gaol delivery 1618,12 subsidy 1621-2, 1624.13

Biography

A descendant of the Gleanes of Diss, Norfolk, this Member’s father was either a draper or mercer, who served three times as mayor of Norwich and represented the city in Parliament in 1589.14 Gleane also became a leading member of the Norwich corporation. He held licences to sell wine in Diss, Harling and Norwich, and also dealt in timber.15 In 1602 he purchased a grove of 41 trees in Newton Wood from the dean and chapter of Norwich Cathedral.16

Gleane married into the wealthy Suckling family of Norwich. His brother-in-law, (Sir) John Suckling*, represented Norwich in 1626 and was comptroller of the king’s Household. It was possibly through Suckling’s influence that Gleane was knighted in 1624. Gleane himself was elected for Norwich in 1628, perhaps as a direct replacement for Suckling, who had died in 1627. In the Commons Gleane made no speeches and was appointed to just one bill committee (1 April). It concerned the searching and sealing of new draperies, a matter of interest to Norwich, which was a main centre of new drapery manufacture.17

In 1629 Gleane was involved, as a member of the Norwich corporation, in an attempt to settle the complaints of the Norwich weavers regarding the deceits in manufacture of the spinners and yarnmen of Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk.18 He made out his will on 7 May 1633, in which he divided his various Norfolk properties between his three sons and instructed that his tomb was to be placed on the north wall of the south aisle of St. Peter Mancroft. To this church he had already donated a standing cup and cover, perhaps in memory of his late wife.19 Gleane’s friend Richard Rosse* received 40s. for drafting the will, which was overseen by Sir John Hobart* and Sir Robert Heath*.20 His grandson, Peter, purchased a baronetcy and represented Norfolk in 1679 and 1681. However, he squandered the family fortune and his son was thrown naked and penniless into the Fleet prison in 1696.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Chris Kyle

Notes

  • 1. Norf. RO, St. Peter Mancroft, par. reg.
  • 2. Vis. Norf. (Norf. Rec. Soc. iv), 82; Norf. RO, Rye ms 4, p. 515.
  • 3. Al. Cant.
  • 4. Vis. Norf. (Harl. Soc. xxxii), 130.
  • 5. B. Cozens-Hardy and E.A. Kent, Mayors of Norwich, 73.
  • 6. Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 184.
  • 7. Norf. RO, St. Peter Mancroft, par. reg.
  • 8. Norf. RO, NCR/Case 16/C/5.
  • 9. Norwich City Officers ed. T. Hawes (Norf. Rec. Soc. lii), 68.
  • 10. C181/2, ff. 46v, 149; 181/3, f. 41.
  • 11. C181/2, f. 196; 181/3, f. 98; 181/4, f. 123v.
  • 12. C181/2, f. 319v.
  • 13. C212/22/20, 21, 23.
  • 14. Cozens-Hardy and Kent, 73.
  • 15. PROB 11/165, ff. 148-9.
  • 16. Extracts from Min. Bks. Norwich Cathedral ed. J.F. Williams and B. Cozens-Hardy (Norf. Rec. Soc. xxiv), 40.
  • 17. CD 1628, ii. 227.
  • 18. SP16/153/11, 53.
  • 19. F. Blomefield, Hist. Norf. iv. 193.
  • 20. PROB 11/165, ff. 148-9.