Henry Neville (died 1615)

Sir Henry Neville (c. 1562 - July 10, 1615) was an English diplomat, courtier and distant relative of William Shakespeare. A theory put forward in 2005 claims he is a strong candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays.

Life

Neville was the first born child of Sir Henry Neville and Elizabeth Gresham and the great-great-grandson of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland. Joan was daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt was in turn a son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.

Henry grew up at Billingbear House, was educated at Merton College, Oxford and sat in parliament as the member for New Windsor, Sussex, Liskeard, Kent, Lewes and Berkshire.

In 1599 Neville was appointed Ambassador to France and attended the Court of Henri IV. Although knighted for his services in France, he was unhappy with the way he was treated by the French and in 1600, complaining of deafness, he asked to be recalled to the Kingdom of England.

After his return he became involved with the plot of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was stripped of his position and fined £5,000, which he agreed to pay in annual instalments of £1,000. After the death of Elizabeth I of England and the accession of James I a Royal Warrant was issued for his release.

After his release, he played a greater role in the political life of Great Britain and earned the antagonism of King James by advocating the King surrender to the demands of the House of Commons. It was this action that, on the death of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, lost him the possibility of becoming the Secretary of State. Although offered the position of Treasurer of the Chamber he turned it down.

Neville died in 1615 and was buried at the church of St. Lawrence in Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire, England.

Family

Neville married Anne Killigrew (daughter of Sir Henry Killigrew and Catherine Cooke) and they had five sons and six daughters.

Sir Henry Neville, c. 1586 - 29 June, 1629, married Elizabeth Smyth, issue.
Frances Neville, 1592 - 1659, married Sir Richard Worsley then Jerome Brett, issue.
Catherine Neville, c. 1589 - 1650, married Sir Richard Brooke, issue.
Anne Neville, unmarried.
Elizabeth Neville, c. 1588 - 4 January, 1656 or 1657, married William Glover then Sir Henry Berkeley, issue.
Dorothy Neville, 1605 - 1673, married Richard Catlyn, issue unknown.
William Neville, 1596 - 1640, married Catherine Billingley, issue unknown.
Richard Neville, 1608 - 1644, married unknown, issue.
Edward Neville, 1602 - 1632, married Alice Pryor, issue.
Charles Neville, 1607 - 1626, possibly unmarried.
Mary Neville, c. 1590 - 28 October, 1642, married Edward Lewknor, issue.

Neville as Shakespeare

Neville (nicknamed Falstaff) is a candidate for being the true writer of Shakespeare's works. Mainstream Shakespearean scholarship does not accept that anyone but Shakespeare was the author, however there exist a number of theories that it could have been someone else.

In a book published in 2005 author Brenda James and Professor William Rubinstein, of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth argue that Neville's career placed him in the locations of many of the plays about the time they were written. Neville was a descendant of the rival Plantagenet dynasty and could not himself be seen to be an author. He could have arranged for his relative to be a front man. They also claim new documents known to have been written by Neville while in the Tower, contain detailed notes which later ended up in Henry VIII.

References

James, Brenda and Rubinstein, William (2005). The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare. Longman. ISBN 1405824379
Biography from the Royal Berkshire History Website
Sir Henry Neville of Billingbere

External links