Family and Education

Offices Held

Servant of the Earl of Bath from at least Nov. 1587 to at least 1609.

Biography

Little has been ascertained about Papworth, who was a servant of the lord lieutenant of Devon, the Earl of Bath. When in 1591 Thomas Hinson was attacked in the county for exercising undue influence over his master, it was stated that Papworth was ‘a man that dareth do nothing’ without Hinson’s backing. References to Papworth concern a deed between various Devon men and Lyme Regis in 1582; a payment in 1586 for his charges at Barnstaple in connexion with impressing soldiers for Ireland; a payment of 40s. from Exeter corporation, and, in 1590, an estimate of the value of some French prizes then at Ilfracombe. In 1602 Totnes corporation, which had been involved in lawsuits for several years, paid 10s. to him in Exeter for the town’s ‘former causes’. His name appears in the new company incorporated in 1612 to search for the North West passage. Papworth made his will at his home at Hoxton 1 Jan. 1613, and it was proved 19 Apr. 1620.

Roberts thesis; Vis. London (Harl. Soc. xvii), 303; Lond. Mar. Lic. (Harl. Soc. xxv), 11; Bodl. Rawl. D406; Cambs. Par. Regs. ii. 169; PRO Lists and Indexes, vii. 312; Harl. 5827, f. 158; HMC 15th Rep. VII, 5; Lansd. 62, f. 20; 68, f. 101; All Souls mss Whadborough 343; CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 488; Dorset Proc. 1947, p. 82; Barnstaple Recs. ii. 107, 122; Exeter act bk. 4, f. 548; Totnes recs.; CSP Col. 1513-1613, p. 240; PCC 31 Soame.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: P. W. Hasler

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