If you have found this page useful, why not make a donation to The Peerage Research Trust so that we can continue to develop and expand Cracroft's Peerage?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Norris, Baron (E, 1572)

Creation: let.pat. 6 May 1572

Family name: Norris later Wray later Bertie

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arms:

See Earl of Berkshire

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Henry [Norris], 1st Baron Norris

son and heir of Sir Henry Norris, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, Groom of the Stool, etc. (attainted and beheaded 17 May 1536 on a charge of adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn) (by his wife Hon Mary Fiennes, only dau. of Thomas [Fiennes], 8th Baron Dacre, by his wife Anne Bourchier, dau. of Sir Humphrey Bourchier, by his wife Elizabeth Tilney, de jure suo jure Baroness Thorpe, only dau. and sole hrss. of Sir Frederick Tilney, of Ashwellthorpe, co. Norfolk), 2nd son of Sir Edward Norris, of Yattendon Castle, co. Berkshire, by his wife Frideswide Lovel, sister and cohrss. of Francis [Lovel], 1st Viscount Lovel, and 2nd dau. of John [Lovel], 8th Baron Lovel and 5th Baron Holand

born

c. 1525

mar.

betw. Dec 1542 and 26 Aug 1544 Hon Margery Williams (b. 1521; d. Dec 1599), heiress of Rycote, co. Oxford, 2nd dau. and  cohrss. of John [Williams], 1st Baron Williams of Thame, by his first wife Elizabeth Edmonds, widow of Andrew Edmonds, of Cressing Temple, co. Essex, and dau. and cohrss. of Thomas Bledlowe by his wife Elizabeth Starky, dau. and cohrss. of Sir Humphrey Starky, Chief Baron of the Exchequer 1483-86

children

1. Hon Sir William Norris, Marshal of Berwick, Capt of Horse in Ireland 1573-76 and 1579, Receiver of cos. Middlesex, Hertford, Essex and the City of London 1579 (b. c. 1545-50; dvp. 25 Dec 1579), mar. after 1 Jun 1576 Elizabeth Morrison (mar. (2) aft. 20 Oct 1586 as his second wife Henry [Clinton], 2nd Earl of Lincoln; d. 4 Jul 1611), 1st dau. of Sir Richard Morrison, of Cashiobury, co. Hertford, by his wife Hon Bridget Hussey, 1st dau. of John [Hussey], 1st Baron Hussey, by his second wife Lady Anne Grey, only dau. by his second wife of George [Grey], 2nd Earl of Kent, and had issue:

1a. Francis Norris, later 2nd Baron Norris later 1st Earl of Berkshire

2. Hon Sir John Norris, the most acclaimed English soldier of his day, participating in the Wars of Religion in France, in Flanders during the Eighty Years' War of Dutch liberation from Spain, in the Anglo-Spanish War, and above all in the Tudor conquest of Ireland, where he became infamous for the massacre of women and children on the island of Rathlin in 1575 (b. 1547; dvp. 3 Jul 1597; bur. in Yattendon Church, co. Berkshire)

3. Hon Sir Edward Norris, Member of Parliament for Abingdon 1584-85 and 1588-89, fought in the Netherlands, knighted 1586, Governor of Ostend 1590, Custos Rotulorum of Berkshire 1601-03 (b. c. 1550; d. Oct 1603; bur. at Englefield, co. Berkshire)

4. Hon Sir Henry Norris, fought with his brothers John and Edward in the Netherlands 1586, knighted after the Battle of Zutphen 1586, Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1588-89 and 1597-98, served in Ireland as Col of Infantry 1595 and in the campaign in Munster 1599, where he died following the amputation of a wounded leg (b. 1554; dvp. 1599)

5. Hon Sir Thomas Norris, Member of Parliament for Limerick 1585-86, knighted 1588, granted 6,000 acres in Munster 1588, President of Munster and Lord Justice of Ireland 1597 (b. 1556; dvp. 20 Aug 1599 from a wound in the neck), mar. Bridget Kingsmill, dau. of Sir William Kingsmill, of Sydmonton, co. Hampshire, and had issue

6. Hon Maximilian Norris (b. c. 1557; killed vp. in Brittany while serving under his brother, John, Sep 1593)

1. Hon Catherine Norris (b. c. 1553), mar. c. 1583 Sir Anthony Paulet, Governor of Jersey, and had issue

died

27 Jun 1601 (bur. at Rycote, co. Oxford;  monumental inscription to Lord and Lady Norris in Westminster Abbey)

created

by writ of summons 6 May 1572 Baron Norris

suc. by

son

note

Member of Parliament for Berkshire 1547-52 and for Oxfordshire;  Commissioner for Musters of Horses, co. Oxford 1565;  knighted at his house at Rycote, co. Oxford 1566;  Ambassador to France 1566-71;  an Act of Parliament 1539 restored him in blood and restituted to him his attainted father's estates "except such as have been forfeited to the Crown, of were lands of Sir Francis, late Viscount Lovell";  entertained Queen Elizabeth I at Rycote Sep 1566 and Sep 1592; knighted 1566; a further Act of 1575/6 confirmed the restoration in blood;  Porter of the Outer Gate of Windsor Castle and Keeper of the Armouries c. 1580;  a juror in the trial of Lord Vaux 1581;  Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and Berkshire 1587-99;  Captain of Light Horse in the Queen's Bodyguard 1588 ; a juror at the trial of Philip, Earl of Arundel

Francis [Norris], 2nd Baron Norris later 1st Earl of Berkshire

created

28 Jan 1620/1 Viscount Thame and Earl of Berkshire

The Earl of Berkshire held the Barony of Norris from 28 Jan 1620/1 until his death on 29 Jan 1621/2, when the Viscountcy of Thame and the Earldom of Berkshire became extinct and the Barony of Norris passed to his only child,

Lady Elizabeth Norris later Wray, suo jure Baroness Norris

born

mar.

27 Mar 1622 Edward Wray, Groom of the Bedchamber to King Charles I (d. 20 Mar 1658; bur. at Wytham, co. Berkshire), 8th son of Sir William Wray, 1st Bt., of Glentworth, co. Lincoln, by his first wife Lucy Montagu, sister of Henry [Montagu], 1st Earl of Manchester, and 1st dau. of Sir Edward Montagu, of Boughton, co. Northampton, by his wife Elizabeth Harington, sister of John [Harington], 1st Baron Harington of Exton, and dau. of Sir James Harington, of Exton, co. Rutland

only child

1. Hon Bridget Wray, later suo jure Baroness Norris

died

s.p.m. shortly before 10 Oct 1645 (bur. in Westminster Abbey)

suc. by

daughter

Hon Bridget Wray later Sackville later Bertie, suo jure Baroness Norris

born

12 May 1627

mar. (1)

24 Dec 1645 Hon Edward Sackville (killed sp. 11 Apr 1646 at the Battle of Kidlington; bur. at Wytham, co. Berkshire), 2nd son of Edward [Sackville], 4th Earl of Dorset, by his wife Mary Curzon, dau. and hrss. of Sir George Curzon, of Croxall, co. Derby

mar. (2)

between 1646 and 1653 as his second wife Montagu [Bertie], 2nd Earl of Lindsey

children by second husband

1. Hon James Bertie, later 5th Baron Norris later 1st Earl of Abingdon

2. Hon Edward Bertie (d. young)

3. Capt Hon Henry Bertie (dsp. 1734), mar. Philadelphia Norris, dau. of Sir Edward Norris, of Weston, co. Oxford

1. Lady Mary Bertie (b. 1 Sep 1655; dsp. 30 Jun 1709), mar. as his second wife Charles [Dormer], 2nd Earl of Carnarvon

bur.

24 Mar 1656/7 in Westminster Abbey

suc. by

son by second husband

James [Bertie], 5th Baron Norris later 1st Earl of Abingdon

created

30 Nov 1682 Earl of Abingdon

The Barony of Norris has been held by the Earls of Abingdon (Earls of Lindsey from 2 Jan 1938) since 30 Nov 1682.

 First written 4 Jul 2012

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________