CONSTABLE, Sir William (1591-1655), of Flamborough and Holme on Spalding Moor, Yorks.

Family and Education

b. 27 Fe 1591, o. surv. s. of Sir Robert Constable of Flamborough and Holme and Anne, da. and h. of John Hussey of North Duffield.C142/220/16; Flamborough par. reg.; Vis. Yorks. ed. Foster, 92, 198. educ. travelled abroad ?1617.SO3/6, unfol. (Mar. 1617). m. 15 Feb. 1608, Dorothy (d. 9 Mar. 1656), da. of Thomas, 1st Lord Fairfax†, of Denton, 1ch. d.v.p.Dugdale’s Vis. Yorks. ii. 291; St Mary Bishophill Sen., York par. reg. suc. fa. 30 Sept. 1600;Dugdale’s Vis. Yorks. ii. 290-1. cr. bt. 29 June 1611;CB. d. 10 June 1655;St Mary Bishophill Sen., York par. reg. bur. 21 June 1655;Westminster Abbey Regs. ed. J. L. Chester, 148. disinterred 12 Sept. 1660.Ath. Ox. ii. 371-2.

Offices Held

Local: commr. sewers, Yorks. (W. Riding) 8 June 1611;C181/2, f. 145v. E. Riding 23 Feb. 1613 – aft.Mar. 1640, 22 June 1654;C181/2, f. 181v; C181/3, ff. 47v, 187; C181/4, f. 189v; C181/5, ff. 41, 166; C181/6, p. 46. River Derwent (Yorks.) 15 Apr. 1629;C181/4, f. 1. Glos. 20 Feb. 1654;C181/6, p. 19. charitable uses, Yorks. 23 June 1613–7 May 1619.C93/6/5; C93/7/4–5; Capt. militia ft. E. Riding 18 May 1613;Hull History Cent. U DDHA/18/34. col. 1629-c.1637.Sheffield City Archives, WWM/Str P12/50; Add. 28082, f. 80v. J.p. by Dec. 1613 – 15 Sept. 1626, 19 Dec. 1628-c.June 1642, by 1648–d.;APC 1613–14, p. 298; C231/4, ff. 209v, 262; News from Yorke (1642, 669 f. 6.44); Add. 29674, f. 149. Glos. 20 Mar. 1649–d.;C231/6, p. 145. N. Riding 6 Oct. 1653–d.C231/6, p. 270. Custos rot. E. Riding by Dec. 1613–15 Sept. 1626.C66/1988. Collector, Palatinate benevolence, c.Aug. 1620.Strafforde Letters, i. 6. Commr. oyer and terminer, Northern circ. 1 June 1621–23 Jan. 1629, 23 Jan. 1630 – aft.June 1641, by Jan. 1654–d.;C181/3, ff. 32v, 209; 181/4, ff. 36, 197; C181/5, ff. 7v, 203; C181/6, pp. 17, 101. Oxf. circ. by Jan. 1654–d.C181/6, pp. 10, 91. Commr. subsidy, E. Riding 1621–2, 1624, 1628.C212/22/20–3; E179/204/448. Dep. lt. c. Jan. 1629-c.1637.Sheffield City Archives, WWM/Str P12/50; Add. 28082, f. 80v; Strafforde Letters, ii. 194. Commr. repair of St Paul’s Cathedral, 1633;HUL, DDHA/18/35. levying of money, E., N., W. Riding, Hull 3 Aug. 1643.A. and O. Member, cttee. to reside with armies in north, 24 June 1644.CJ iii. 533a; LJ vi. 604a. Commr. assessment, E. Riding 18 Oct. 1644, 23 June 1647, 16 Feb. 1648, 7 Apr., 7 Dec. 1649; N., W. Riding 18 Oct. 1644; Glos. 7 Apr., 7 Dec. 1649, 26 Nov. 1650, 10 Dec. 1652; Yorks. 26 Nov. 1650, 10 Dec. 1652, 24 Nov. 1653.A. and O.; An Act for an Assessment (1653, E.1062.28). Member, cttee. to command Northern Assoc. army, 12 May 1645.CJ iv. 138b; LJ vii. 367b. Commr. Northern Assoc. E. Riding 20 June 1645; militia, Yorks. 2 Dec. 1648;A. and O. E. Riding 14 Mar. 1655;SP25/76A, f. 16. high ct. of justice, S. Wales 25 June 1651.CJ vi. 591a. Sheriff, Yorks. 10 Nov. 1653–4.List of Sheriffs (L. and I. ix), 164. Commr. ejecting scandalous ministers, E. Riding and Hull 28 Aug. 1654;A. and O. gaol delivery, Northern circ. 4 Apr. 1655.C181/6, p. 101.

Military: col. of ft. (parlian.) by 30 July 1642 – 12 May 1645, Dec. 1647–d.SP28/1A, f. 150; SP28/143, pt. 6, f. 11; SP28/253B, pt. 2, f. 53; SP28/265, f. 363; Clarke Pprs. ii. 252; Firth and Davies, Regimental Hist. i. 254; ii. 399. Col.-gen. E. Riding c.Aug. 1643–12 May 1645;CJ iii. 154b; CCC 843; SP28/253B, pt. 2, f. 34; lt. gen. of horse, Yorks. ?Sept. 1644–12 May 1645.CJ iv. 88b; vi. 108a; SP28/253B, pt. 2, f. 34; SP28/265, f. 363; Jones, ‘War in north’, 376; N. B. Bradley, ‘Sir William Constable’s regt. 1642–55’, Jnl. of the Soc. for Army Historical Research, lv. 235. Dep. gov. Hull by June 1644–?CCC 843; HMC Portland, i. 178. Gov. Gloucester Jan. 1648-Jan. 1653.Rushworth, Hist. Collns. vii. 979; J. Washbourn, Bibliotheca Gloucestrensis, iii. pp. cxvii, cxxv.

Central: commr. conserving peace betw. England and Scotland, 20 May 1643, 7 July 1646, 28 Oct. 1647.LJ vi. 55b; LJ viii. 411a; ix. 500a. Member, cttee. for examinations, 1 Aug. 1643.CJ iii. 189b. Commr. high ct. of justice, 6 Jan. 1649.A. and O. Member, cttee. for plundered ministers, 6 Jan. 1649;CJ vi. 112b. cttee. for the army, 6 Jan. 1649, 2 Jan., 17 Dec. 1652;CJ vi. 113b; A. and O. cttee. for indemnity, 6 Jan. 1649.CJ vi. 113b. Cllr. of state, 13 Feb. 1649, 13 Feb. 1650, 25 Nov. 1651.A. and O.; CJ vii. 42b. Commr. removing obstructions, sale of forfeited estates, 16 July 1651.A. and O.

: of Flamborough and Yorks., Holme on Spalding Moor.

Likenesses

Likenesses: oil on canvas, S. Tillman, 1639.Bradley, ‘Constable’s regt.’, 222.

Volume

Commons 1640-1660

Web Title

CONSTABLE, Sir William (1591-1655), of Flamborough and Holme on Spalding Moor, Yorks.

Will

13 Dec. 1654, pr. 18 July 1655.PROB11/248, f. 316.

Estates

inheritance inc. manors of Flamborough and Holme on Spalding Moor and was worth over £1,000 p.a.C142/263/20; WARD7/101/3; J. T. Cliffe, Puritan Gentry, 118. In 1614, he sold his mo.’s estate in North Duffield, Yorks. for £9,160.C54/2199/15. In 1615, purchased manor of ‘Thorpefield’ – i.e. Thorpe le Street, Yorks. – for £3,200, selling it in 1620 for £1,800.York Minster Lib. Hailstone mss, Box 4.5 (Misc. deeds); Hull Hist. Cent. U DDLA/10/1. In 1618, mortgaged part of manor of Holme for £800.C54/2364/27; Add. 40135, f. 23. In 1630, re-mortgaged Holme for £3,000.Hull Hist. Cent. U DDHA/4/10, 56, 57; Add. 40135, ff. 23v-24. In 1634 sold Holme estate, except manor house, to Sir Marmaduke Langdale for £6,500, paying £1,200 to lease a life interest at £300 p.a.C54/3010/31; C54/3117/7; Hull Hist. Cent. U DDHA/4/11, 12, 62, 64, 65; Add. 40135, f. 24. In 1635, acquired fee farm rent on manor of Holme from the queen, paying £113 p.a.; he conveyed this rent to Langdale in 1636.C66/2705/2; Add. 40135, f. 25. In 1636, sold manor of Flamborough.VCH Yorks. (E. Riding), ii. 154. By 1640, acquired fee farm rent of manor of Flamborough from the queen, paying £113 p.a.LR9/19, bundle 5. In 1647, purchased part of manor of Marton, Yorks. from trustees for the sale of church lands, for £547.LR2/266, f. 4v; Col. Top. et Gen. i. 4. In 1650, purchased, for £1,047, a fee farm rent in Holme worth £113 p.a.SP28/288, f. 2; PROB11/248, f. 316v.

Oxford 1644

Addresses

Sheers Court, Aldersgate Street, London (1635-6);Fairfax Corresp. ed. Johnson, i. 297, 303. The Pear Tree inn, Covent Garden (Mar. 1641);Fairfax Corresp. ed. Johnson, ii. 181. Holborn, Mdx. (1641);SP28/167, pt. 6, unfol. Number 13-14, Great Piazza, Covent Garden, London (c.1645);Survey of London, xxxvi, 96. Great Queen Street, St Giles-in-the-Fields, London (May 1647);Fairfax Corresp. ed. Bell, i. 348. lodgings in the Palace of Whitehall (by Mar. 1650).CSP Dom. 1650, p. 530.

Religion

presented John Oxenbridge to rectory of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumb. 1648;Berwick RO, B1/10, Berwick Guild Bk. f. 152v. George Trenchard to vicarage of Minety, Glos. 1652; Peter Hammond to rectory of Everingham, Yorks. 1652.Add. 36792, ff. 40, 41.

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