KIGHLEY, Sir Philip (1567-1605), of South Littleton, Worcs. and St. Stephen's, Westminster.

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

1604 - 7 Apr. 1605

Family and Education

bap. 6 June 1567, o. s. of Bartholomew Kighley of South Littleton and his 1st. w. Anne, da. of Philip Tolley.1 educ. Broadgates Hall, Oxf. 1583.2 m. (1) settlement 8 Oct. 1582, Elizabeth (bur. 23 Mar. 1594), da. of John Egioke of Egioke, Worcs., 1s.; (2) settlement 16 Jan. 1597, Elizabeth (d. 19 June 1620), da. of Richard Hoby of Badsey, Worcs., wid. of Thomas Sheldon (d.1593) of Broadway, Worcs., 3da.3 suc. fa. 1601;4 kntd. 23 July 1603.5 d. 7 Apr. 1605.6 sig. Phillip Kyghley.

Offices Held

Commr. i.p.m. Worcs. 1597;7 collector, fifteenth, Worcs. 1601;8 j.p. Glos. 1603-d., Worcs. 1603-d.;9 bailiff, manor of Bengworth, Worcs. 1603;10 alderman, Evesham 1604-d.11

Teller, Exch. 1602-d., recvr. of 1st fruits 1604-d.12

Biography

Kighley was the fourth generation of his family to live at South Littleton, three miles north-east of Evesham.13 His father, a country attorney, was steward of the Evesham court leet in the 1580s.14 After his death a friend deposed that Kighley’s lands and those of his second wife were worth £400 p.a. As a teller in the Exchequer, Kighley exploited his position to lend out his receipts, causing him to borrow to make official payments.15

Kighley probably owed his election for Evesham in 1604 to the role he played in securing the borough its charter earlier that year. Although returned without incident, he became embroiled in a dispute over the remaining seat, which was coveted by Sir Francis Egioke, the brother of Kighley’s first wife. Indeed, Egioke had Kighley indicted for riot, presumably for supporting Sir Thomas Bigg*.16

In the 1604 session Kighley was appointed to four committees. The first was to consider the motion of Sir Francis Hastings concerning religion (16 April). The remainder were legislative, concerning the bill against brokers (16 June), a measure to assign money for the Household (18 June), and the bill concerning the attorneys and clerks of King’s Bench and Common Pleas (22 June 1604).17 He made no recorded speeches.

In the last months of his life Kighley, whose lands were by now held by trustees, was in serious financial difficulties. He declined to make a will, but instead left his personal estate to Sir Francis Egioke by deed of gift. 18 He died at the Angel inn without Temple Bar and was buried in St. Clement Danes on 8 Apr. 1605.19 After his death it was found that he owed the Crown over £6,400 and, although £900 was quickly recovered by the Exchequer, the remainder was still outstanding more than a year later.20 None of Kighley’s descendants sat in Parliament.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Ben Coates

Notes

  • 1. Vis. Worcs. (Harl. Soc. xc), 56.
  • 2. Al. Ox.
  • 3. Vis. Worcs. 56, 91; C2/Chas.I/B24/65; C142/240/57; E134/14Jas.1/Hil20; R. Tomes, South Littleton Notes, 19-20; Broadway, Worcs. Par. Reg. (Soc. Gen. Transcript).
  • 4. C21/B21/8.
  • 5. Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 122.
  • 6. E112/132/160, 204; E178/3832. However, a note in the records of the Pell office states he died on 6 Apr.: E403/2559/9, f. 1.
  • 7. CPR, 1596-1597 (L. and I. Soc. cccxxii), 200.
  • 8. E112/132/160.
  • 9. C231/1, f. 149v.
  • 10. E315/310, f. 15.
  • 11. G. May, Descriptive Hist. of Town of Evesham, 452.
  • 12. Exchequer Officeholders comp. J.C. Sainty (L. and I. Soc. spec. ser. xviii), 211, 234.
  • 13. Vis. Worcs. (Harl. Soc. xxvii), 84.
  • 14. C3/131/31; E134/29Eliz/East12.
  • 15. E178/3832.
  • 16. Ibid.
  • 17. CJ, i. 172b, 240a, 241b, 244b.
  • 18. E178/3832.
  • 19. E178/3832; WCA, St. Clement Danes par. reg.
  • 20. E112/132/172; E403/2659/9, f. 1; E178/3832.