RIVETT (REVETT), Nicholas (1573-1643), of Brandeston Hall, Suff.

Rivett’s grandfather bought the manor of Brandeston in east Suffolk in 1543 and built the Hall. He was imprisoned under Mary Tudor on the strength of a letter, allegedly forged, that was critical of the Catholic religion and the burnings of Protestants. W.A. Copinger, Manors of Suff. iv. 89, 224. Rivett himself, the great-nephew and godson of lord keeper Bacon (Nicholas Bacon†), was a lawyer. Add. 19146, f. 312. His London practice cannot have been extensive, for his chambers at Gray’s Inn were among those declared forfeit in 1603. PBG Inn, i. 163.

A cousin of Thomas Rivett, who sat for Aldeburgh in 1604, Rivett may have been appointed recorder of that borough on the death of Robert Barker*, the first holder of the office, in 1618. This would perhaps explain his appointment to the Suffolk bench 11 days after Barker’s demise. C66/1708, m. 26. He was certainly recorder by the time he was returned for Aldeburgh to the 1624 Parliament, in which he was named to only two committees, these being to consider bills to settle the estate of a Derbyshire lunatic (28 Apr.) and to prevent the murder of illegitimate children (29 April). CJ, i. 692a, 779a. He also attended a meeting of the committee for the bill to regulate the fees of customs officials on 17 Apr., which he was entitled to attend as the representative of a port. C.R. Kyle, ‘Attendance Lists’, PPE 1604-48 ed. Kyle, 219; CJ, i. 747b. He made no recorded speeches and is not known to have sought re-election. Although he drafted his will on 2 June 1637, Rivett survived a further six years. He was buried at Brandeston, in accordance with his wishes. No later member of the family entered Parliament. Suff. RO (Ipswich), W82/88.