Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KB (c. 1514 – 4 July 1551)[1] was an English peer.
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Cromwell was born in Putney, then in Surrey, the first child and only son of Thomas Cromwell, later 1st Baron Cromwell and briefly 1st Earl of Essex, and his first wife, the former Elizabeth Wykys.
He was tutored by Sir Richard Southwell and attended Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated.
On 18 December 1540, shortly after his father's execution, he was raised to the Peerage as Baron Cromwell, of Oakham in the County of Rutland, and summoned to Parliament. This title was a new creation, rather than a restoration of his father's forfeited barony, and had a different territorial designation.
He was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath at the coronation of King Edward VI.
Before 1538, at Wulfhall, Savernake, Wiltshire, he married Elizabeth, Lady Oughtred (née Elizabeth Seymour), the sister of Jane Seymour (and therefore the aunt of King Edward VI). She was a daughter of Sir John Seymour and the widow of Sir Anthony Oughtred. They had five children:
He died at Launde, Leicestershire, was buried at Launde Abbey and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry. Henry's grandson, Thomas, 4th Baron Cromwell, was created Earl of Ardglass in the Peerage of Ireland in 1645. The Earldom of Ardglass expired in 1687, and the Barony of Cromwell became dormant in 1709.
Gregory Cromwell is played by Jack West in the Season 3 finale of Showtime cable television show The Tudors. In Wolf Hall, a novel by Hilary Mantel, which offers a sympathetic portrayal of the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Gregory is depicted as a childlike, slightly inept but lovable young man.
| Peerage of England | ||
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| Preceded by New title |
Baron Cromwell 1540–1551 |
Succeeded by Henry Cromwell |