William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton
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William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG (c. 1490 in Aldwark – 15 October 1542 in Newcastle upon Tyne), English courtier, was the third son of Sir Thomas FitzWilliam of Aldwark and Lady Lucy Neville (daughter of the Marquess of Montagu).
His father died while FitzWilliam was in his infancy, and his mother remarried Sir Anthony Browne, the elder, so that William was stepbrother to Sir Anthony Browne. Probably as a result of this connection, he was chosen as a companion for Henry, Prince of Wales (later King Henry VIII) and brought up alongside him. After King Henry's coronation in 1509, he was made a Gentleman Usher and King's Cupbearer, and gradually rose at Court. He began his military career at sea, serving under the Marquess of Dorset in 1512 and Sir Edward Howard in the disastrous second attack on Brest. Unlike his commander, he escaped the debacle, but was badly injured by a crossbow bolt. He had recovered sufficiently to accompany the King into France as an Esquire of the Body, and was knighted on 25 September 1513, the day after the capture of Tournai. In November he married Mabel Clifford, daughter of the Lord Clifford, but the marriage would prove childless.
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[edit] References
| Preceded by: Sir Thomas More |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1529–1533 |
Succeeded by: Sir John Gage |
| Preceded by: The Duke of Richmond and Somerset |
Lord High Admiral 1536–1540 |
Succeeded by: The Lord Russell |
| Preceded by: Thomas Cromwell |
Lord Privy Seal 1540–1542 |
| Preceded by: New Creation |
Earl of Southampton 1537–1542 |
Succeeded by: Extinct |
