Chief members of the More family of Loseley and other main correspondents

Owners of Loseley

The following are the owners of Loseley House and estate during the period covered by the correspondence.

I. Sir Christopher More (by 1483-1549)

  • Purchaser of Loseley. Knighted 1540/41
  • Married: (1) Margaret, daughter of Walter Mugge of Guildford; (2) Constance, daughter of Richard Sackville of Withyham.
  • Main offices held: King's Remembrancer; ulnager of Surrey and Sussex; subsidy commissioner; muster commissioner; verderer of Windsor Forest; surveyor of lands for Margaret, Countess of Salisbury; justice of the peace for Surrey; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1532-3, 1539-40.
  • Member of Parliament: Surrey, 1539, 1547

II. Sir William More (1520-1600)

  • Son of the above. Knighted 1576.
  • Married: (1) Mabel, daughter of Marchion Dingeley of Wolverton, Isle of Wight; (2) Margaret, daughter of Ralph Daniell of Swaffham, Norfolk.
  • Main offices held: chamberlain of the Exchequer; justice of the peace for Surrey; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1558-9, 1579-80; provost marshal for Surrey, 1552; ulnager of Surrey and Sussex; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; treasurer of the lottery in Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; commissioner for church goods, Surrey; commissioner for recusants and seminaries, Surrey; ecclesiastical commissioner; deputy master of the swans, Surrey; vice-admiral, Sussex; verderer of Windsor Forest; constable of Farnham Castle.
  • Member of Parliament: Reigate, 1547; Guildford, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1572, 1589, 1597; Surrey, 1563, 1571, 1584, 1586, 1593; Grantham (Lincs), 1559.

    • III. Sir George More (1553-1632)

    • Son of the above. Knighted c.1598.
    • Married: (1) Anne, daughter of Sir Adrian Poynings of Burnegate, Dorset; Sir George More (1553-1632) from a portrait at Loseley House(2) Constance, daughter of John Michell of Stammerham, Sussex.
    • Main offices held: chamberlain of receipt in the Exchequer; treasurer and receiver general to Henry, Prince of Wales; chancellor of Order of the Garter; lieutenant of the Tower of London; justice of the peace for Surrey and Sussex; sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, 1597-8; provost marshal for Surrey, 1589; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; commissioner for recusants and seminaries, Surrey; verderer of Windsor Forest; constable of Farnham Castle.
    • Member of Parliament: Guildford, 1584, 1586, 1589, 1593, 1604, 1624; Surrey, 1597, 1601, 1614, 1621, 1625, 1626.

    IV. Sir Poynings More, Bart (1606-1649)

    • Grandson of III above, son of IX below. Created baronet 1642.
    • Married: Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Fitch of Woodham Walter, Essex, widow of Christopher Rous of Henham, Suffolk.
    • Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; defence commissioner, Surrey; assessment commissioner, Surrey; militia commissioner, Surrey.
    • Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1624, 1625, 1626, 1640; Guildford, 1628.

    V. Sir William More, 2nd Bart (1643-1684)

    • Son of IV above.
    • Married: Mary, daughter of Sir Walter Hendley, 1st Bart, of Cuckfield, Sussex. No children.
    • Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; assessment commissioner, Surrey; commissioner for recusants; cornet of volunteer horse, 1660; lieutenant of militia horse, Surrey.
    • Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1675, 1679, 1679-80, 1681.

    VI. The Rev Nicholas More (1615-1684)

    • Son of X below; brother of IV above.
    • Married: Susan Saunders.

    VII. Robert More (1664-1689)

    • Son of VI above. Died unmarried. Succeeded by his sister Margaret (1660-1704) and her husband Sir Thomas Molyneux (d.1719) of Westhoughton, Lancs.

    VIII. Thomas Molyneux (1664-1719) of Lancashire, then of Loseley

    • Married Margaret More (1660-1704), sister of VII, and inherited Loseley after the death of Elizabeth More (d.1692) and Margaret.
    • A businessman with interests in shipping insurance.

    Some other members of the More family

    IX. Elizabeth More (1552-1600), usually referred to as Elizabeth Wolley

    • Daughter of II above.
    • Married: (1) Richard Polsted (d.1576) of Albury; (2) Sir John Wolley (d.1596), XI below; (3) Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), Viscount Brackley, XII below.

    X. Sir Robert More (1581-1626)

    • Eldest son of III above but predeceased father. Knighted, 1601 x 1604.
    • Married: Frances, daughter of Inventory of the goods of the late Sir George More, 1633 (SHC Ref LM/1105)Sampson Lennard of Knole, Kent, and Hurstmonceux, Sussex.
    • Main offices held: justice of the peace for Surrey; deputy lieutenant, Surrey; constable of Farnham Castle.
    • Member of Parliament: Guildford, 1601, 1614, 1621, 1625; Surrey, 1604, 1624.

    XI. Anne More (1584-1617)

    • Daughter of III above.
    • Married: John Donne (1572-1631), metaphysical poet and (later) dean of St Paul's

    XII. Sir John Wolley (d.1596), of Thorpe and Pyrford

    • Married: as his second wife Elizabeth Polsted, nee More (IX above) ?by 1577. Knighted, 1592.
    • Main offices held: Latin secretary to Queen Elizabeth, justice of the peace, Surrey; Privy Councillor, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, keeper of the records of the Court of Augmentations and Clerk of the Pipe, member of the Court of High Commission.
    • Member of Parliament, 1571-1596, including for Surrey, 1593.

    XIII. Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), Viscount Brackley

    • Married as his second wife Elizabeth Wolley nee More (IX above) in 1597, no children; married Alice Spencer, widow of the Earl of Derby, after Elizabeth's death in 1600.
    • Knighted 1594, created Baron Ellesmere, 1603, and Viscount Brackley in 1616.
    • Main offices held: Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, Lord Keeper, Privy Councillor, Lord Chancellor

    XIV. James Gresham (c.1617-1689) of Haslemere

    • Son of Thomas Gresham of Fulham by Judith, daughter of Sir William Garrard of Dorney, Bucks. Married Anne More (1620-1700), daughter of IX above.
    • Main offices held: justice of the peace, Surrey; commissioner for charitable uses, Haslemere; commissioner for recusants, Surrey.
    • Member of Parliament: Haslemere, 1661, 1679.

    Other persons prominently represented in the correspondence and papers

    The following feature prominently in the correspondence and papers. Only those offices to which reference is made in the Loseley MSS are mentioned.

    XV. Sir Thomas Cawarden (by 1514-1559) of Bletchingley

    • Son of William Cawarden of London. Friend of II who acted as his executor.
    • Married: Elizabeth. A prominent Protestant who was repeatedly under suspicion during Queen Mary's reign.
    • Main offices held: Master of the Revels and Tents; served in the 1544 French campaign; many stewardships and keeperships including manor of Bletchingley, palaces of Nonsuch and Hampton Court; commissioner for church goods, Surrey; subsidy and loan commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; justice of the peace, Surrey; sheriff, Surrey and Sussex, 1547-8.

    XVI. Anthony Browne (1528-1592), 1st Viscount Montague

    • Son of Sir Anthony Browne (d.1548) of Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, Sussex, and West Horsley, Surrey. Created Viscount Montague in 1554. A Roman Catholic.
    • Main offices held: Envoy to Flanders, 1565-6, and France, 1572; keeper of Guildford Park and Hampton Court Chase; subsidy commissioner, Surrey; muster commissioner, Surrey; justice of the peace, Surrey.

    Images

    Select image to view a larger version.

    • Sir George More (1553-1632) from a portrait at Loseley House
    • Inventory of the goods of the late Sir George More, 1633 (SHC ref LM/1105)

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