William Spencer (Sheriff)

Sir William Spencer (c. 1496 – 22 June 1532) was an English nobleman, politician, landowner, and High Sheriff from the Spencer family.

He was the younger son of Sir John Spencer (died 1522), of Hodnell and Wormleighton, Warwickshire and Althorp, Northamptonshire.

In the parish church for Althorp, St Mary the Virgin in Great Brington, Sir William bequeathed the church's east window of stained glass which depicted St. John the Baptist and the Spencer coat of arms, now in a south window of the chancel, in memory of his father and a plain altar tomb with an Elizabethan tablet commemorating his life and death and that of his lady Susan, the daughter of Sir Richard Knightley.[1]

Spencer was appointed High Sheriff of Northamptonshire for 1531–32 but died in office and was replaced by Sir David Cecil. He was succeeded by his son Sir John Spencer (died 1586). Spencer was buried in Brington church, the parish church for Althorp.

Spencer married Susan Knightley, the daughter of Sir Richard Knightley, of Fawsley, Northamptonshire and had a son and five daughters. His daughter Isobel married Sir John Cotton, MP for Cambridgeshire. His daughter Jane married Sir Richard Brydges, MP for Berkshire.

Spencer is a direct male-line ancestor of Prime Minister Sir Winston Spencer Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales.

References

  1. ↑ H. Gawthorne,S. Mattingly,G. W. Shaeffer/M. Avery/B. Thomas/R. Barnard/M. Young, Revd. N.V. Knibbs/R. Horne: "The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Great Brington. 800 Years of English History", published as "Brington Church: A Popular History" in 1989 and printed by Peerless Press.
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