OF the many families of note upon which we have treated in these pages, few are of greater antiquity or possessed of more historic interest than that of Pakington, of which the Right Hon. Lord Hampton is the head. It dates from Norman times, and presents a long succession of notables, whose history is that of the various ages in which they lived, and moved, and had their being. It is clear, from the foundation of Kenilworth Monastery, that the family flourished in the reign of Henry I., and from that time down to the present moment its members have been among the most celebrated men of the country. In the reign of Henry IV. Robert Pakington died, and was succeeded by his son John, who in turn was succeeded by his son of the same name, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Thomas Washbourne, of Stanford, and thus the family became connected with the county of Worcester. By this lady he had issue three sons—John, Robert, and Humphrey. The eldest of these, John Pakington, was of the Inner Temple, and was constituted Chirographer of the Common Pleas in the reign of Henry VII., and in the next reign was made Lent Reader and Treasurer of the Inner Temple; and in the same year (20 Henry VIII.) had a grant from the King “that he, the said John Pakington, for the time to come shall have full liberty during his life to wear his hat in his presence, and his successors, or any other person whatsoever; and not to be uncovered on any occasion or cause whatsoever, against his will and good liking; also that he shall not be appointed, called, or compelled to take the order of knighthood, or degree, state, or order of a baron of the Exchequer, serjent-at-law, or any office or encumbrance thereto relating.”
In 1532, however, he was appointed serjeant-at-law, and received a discharge so as to enable him to accept that office. Having been appointed a justice of North Wales, he was, in 1535, commissioned to conclude and compound all forfeitures, offences, fines, and sums of money due to the King or to his late father, Henry VII. He received many other appointsovereign ments and honours, and was ultimately knighted. He received from the a grant of all the manors belonging to the dissolved monastery of Westwood, and thus that fine property came to the Pakingtons. At the time of his death, in 1560, Sir John was seized of thirty-one manors, and of much other land which he had purchased from seventy different persons. Leland says that he resided “at a goodly new house of brick, called Hampton Court, six miles from Worcester.” Sir John is variously stated to have married Anne Rolle (widow of Tychebourne) and Anne Dacres. Whichever of these is correct, he died without male issue, leaving his estates divided amongst his two daughters—Ursula and Bridget—and his two brothers, Robert and Humphrey.
His brother, Robert Pakington, was M.P. for the City of London in the time of Henry VIII., and was murdered in the streets of that city in 1537. By his wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir John Baldwin, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (by his wife, a daughter of Dormer of Wycombe, through whom the manor of Ailsbury came to the family), he had issue one son—Sir Thomas—and three daughters.
Sir Thomas Pakington, who was knighted by Queen Mary, succeeded to the estates of the Pakingtons and Baldwins. He was sheriff of Worcestershire in the 3rd of Elizabeth, and, dying in 1571, at Bath Place, Holborn, was conveyed in great pomp to Ailsbury, the officers of the College of Arms attending, and buried there in state. By his wife (who survived him, and married, secondly, Sir Thomas Kitson, of Hargrave), Sir Thomas had, with other issue, a son—Sir John, by whom he was succeeded—and three daughters.
Sir John Pakington, the “Lusty Pakington” of Queen Elizabeth’s Court, was an especial favourite of the “Virgin Queen,” and a man of rank in his day and generation. It is said that “Good Queen Bess” “first took notice of Sir John in her progress to Worcester, where she invited him to attend her Court, where he lived at his own expense in great splendour and reputation, with an equipage not inferior to some of the highest officers, although he had no greater honour than Knight of the Bath, which was conferred upon him in the lifetime of his father. He was remarkable for his stature and comely person, and had distinguished himself so much by his manly exercises that he was called ‘Lusty Pakington.’”
North-east View.
“Having by his expensive life contracted great debts, he took the wise resolution of retiring into the country, and said he would feed on bread and verjuice until he had made up for his extravagances; which coming to the royal ear, the queen gave him a grant of a gentleman’s estate in Suffolk, worth eight or nine hundred pounds a year, besides goods and chattels, which had been escheated to the Crown; but after he had been in the country to take possession, he could not behold the miseries of the distressed family without remorse and compassion; and the melancholy spectacle of the unhappy mother and her children wrought so effectually upon his fine feelings, that he repaired to court immediately, and humbly besought the queen to excuse him from enriching himself by such means, and did not leave the presence until he had obtained his request, which involved the restoration of the property to the rightful owner. Soon after this he left the court, but not before he had liquidated all his debts, and then, with great reputation and honour, he commenced his journey into the country, being handsomely attended by servants and tenants to the number of sixty, well mounted and appointed, who came purposely from his estates to pay him this compliment, and waited at the court gates while he was taking leave of the queen. After settlement in the country, Elizabeth granted him for sixty years (in the 25th of her reign), for his good and faithful services, several lordships, manors, and lands which had fallen to the Crown, in no less than seventeen counties. He was also constituted lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire, and appointed bowbearer of Malvern Chase, one of the best in England, which he retained until he had finished his noble park at Hampton Lovet; and then, that chase being at too great a distance from his dwelling, he obtained the queen’s leave to dispose of it. He was in Elizabeth’s favour to the end, as appears as well from other evidence as from a grant she made him for eight years (in the 40th year of her reign, he paying into the Exchequer £40 per annum) that no one should import into the kingdom, or make any starch, but by his permission. By his affability and obliging deportment he acquired the good opinion of his equals and inferiors, and by his courage and resolution on occasions requiring the exercise of those attributes, he became formidable to persons in power. A memorable instance of this occurred when he executed the office of sheriff for his county. The Lord Chief Baron Periam having committed a gentleman at the assizes, Sir John, sitting in his sheriff’s seat, called to him to stay, telling the judge he would answer for his forthcoming; neither could he be dissuaded by all the menaces he received, boldly alleging in his defence that the gentleman was his prisoner, and he as sheriff was accountable for him. Sir John is said on one occasion to have betted with three courtiers to swim against them from Westminster, i.e. Whitehall Stairs, to Greenwich for a stake of £3,000; but Queen Elizabeth, out of her special regard for him, and her fear for his life or health, by her imperative command prevented it.” “The good queen,” it is said, “who had particular tenderness for ‘handsome fellows,’ would not permit Sir John to run the hazard of the trial.”