Sir Nicholas Hare of Bruisyard, Suffolk (c. 1484 – 31 October 1557) was Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1539 and 1540.

Life

He was born the eldest son of John Hare of Homersfield, Suffolk, educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and admitted to the Inner Temple in 1515. He had three sisters, who were married to MPs, and a brother, John Hare of Stow Bardolph, Norfolk.

He was MP for Downton, Wiltshire in 1529 and possibly Wiltshire in 1539 (when he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons), Lancaster in 1545 and Taunton in 1547. In 1539 the nunnery of Bruisyard was dissolved and assigned by Henry VIII to Sir Nicholas. He was knighted in May 1539 and eventually became Master of the Rolls (1553–1557).

In 1554 he presided at the trial of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, who had been accused of involvement in Wyatt's rebellion against the marriage of Queen Mary to Felipe of Spain.

Sir Nicholas died in Chancery Lane in 1557 and was buried in nearby Temple Church, commemorated in the south bay window of the new Inner Temple Hall.

Family

Hare married Katherine, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Bassingbourne of Woodhall near Hatfield, Hertfordshire,[1] by his wife Audrey Cotton. Katherine Bassingbourne's paternal grandparents were Thomas Bassingbourne and his wife Katherine Say,[2] the daughter of Sir John Say and his wife Elizabeth Cheney, and the sister of Anne Say and Elizabeth Tilney.

He was an influential friend to Thomas Gawdy (d.1556), his brother-in-law, who married Anne Bassingbourne, the sister and fellow co-heiress of Katherine.[3][2]

History of Parliament writes that after Wolsey’s fall he seems to have come under the patronage of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk,[4] his wife's first cousin once removed.

Sir Nicholas Hare and Katherine Bassingbourne had three sons and three daughters. The second son was Robert Hare the antiquary.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hare, Robert" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b Tregelles, J. A. (1908). "A History of Hoddesdon in the County of Hertfordshire: Being a Survey of that Hamlet from the Earliest Times, with an Account of Its Ancient Manors and Its Inhabitants ... From Manuscripts Prepared and Collected by the Late Alexander McKenzie, Supplemented by Extracts from the Deeds and Court Rolls at Hatfield House; Also from Other Unpublished Records and Original Sources". Published by FamilySearch here: Page 43. Stephen Austin & sons, Limited. p. 43.
  3. ^ "GAWDY, Thomas I (by 1509-56), of Shotesham and Redenhall, Norf. - History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  4. ^ "HARE, Nicholas (by 1495-1557), of Bruisyard, Suff. and London. | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
Political offices Preceded bySir Richard Rich Speaker of the House of Commons 1539-1540 Succeeded bySir Thomas Moyle


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