Adrian Stokes (courtier)

Adrian Stokes (4 March 1519[1] – 30 November 1586) was an English courtier and politician.

Stokes was Master of the Horse to Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk and married her after the execution of her first husband, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, on 1 March 1555.[2] They had three children, all of whom died in infancy. He was elected to the English House of Commons as knight of the shire (MP) for Leicestershire in 1559.

The Duchess of Suffolk died in 1559 and Stokes remarried in 1572 Anne Carew, daughter of Sir Nicholas Carew,[3] having been returned again as MP for Leicestershire the previous year.[4] Anne Carew was the widow of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, an eminent diplomat and politician, and had by this marriage already ten sons and three daughters.[5]

He served as marshal of Newhaven in 1546, and in 1547 was a plaintiff in a court case for trespass in the Great Park of Brigstock. He was highly educated and gained a reputation for being among the "hotter" sorts of Protestants. Elizabeth I was known to express envy at the happiness of Duchess of Suffolk and Adrian.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Carl T. Berkhout, “Adrian Stokes, 1519-1585.” Notes and Queries, March 2000. Stokes' birthdate was recorded to the hour by the antiquary Lawrence Nowell.
  2. ↑ Rogers, W. H. Hamilton (2003). Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-7661-3662-0.
  3. ↑ Daybell, James (2004). Women and Politics in Early Modern England, 1450-1700. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 0-7546-0988-X.
  4. ↑ Curtis, John (1831). A Topographical History of The County of Leicester. Ashby-de-laZouch: W. Hextall. pp. XXIV.
  5. ↑ Susan Frye, Karen Robertson, ed. (1999). Maids and Mistresses, Cousins and Queens: Women's Alliances in Early Modern England. Oxford University Press. p. 154. ISBN 0-19-511735-2.
  6. ↑ The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey, by Leanda de Lisle (Ballantine Books, 2008) pgs. 155, 312 note 155, ISBN 978-0-345-49135-0