Life History

30th May 1500	Born
	Married Joan St. Maur
	Birth of daughter Elizabeth Drury
16th Aug 1518	Death of Joan St. Maur
19th Aug 1523	Birth of daughter Ann Drury in Halstead, Suffolk
13th Feb 1524	Birth of son Robert Drury of Hawstead in Halstead, Suffolk
30th Jun 1526	Birth of daughter Mary Drury
29th Jun 1532	Birth of daughter Frances Drury
11th Sep 1534	Birth of daughter Bridget Drury in Halstead, Suffolk
about 1536	Married Elizabeth Sotehill in Suffolk, England
4th Mar 1537	Birth of daughter Dorothy Drury
6th Apr 1538	Birth of son Henry Drury in Lawshall. Suffolk
Dec 1557	Death of son Robert Drury of Hawstead in Salem, Cambridgeshire, England
11th Jan 1558	Died

Notes

From ' The History of the Family of Drury In the Counties of Suffolk and Norfolk From the Conquest' by Arthur Campling, London, 1937.

"He was a knight 25 June 1528 and was appointed a Muster Master by the Privy Council."
"Among the 50 gentlemen who attended Cardinal Wolsey to Calais was William Drewry."
"In 1539 at the reception of the Lady Anne of Cleves, as Grooms of the Privy Chamber were:
"Knightes - Sir William Drury"
"Esquires - Robert Drury."
"The Tudor kings often made enquiries as to how many men owners of estates could put in the field, and in 1536 it was found that Sir Chas. Willoughby, Sir William Drury of Hawstead, and Sir Thos. Jermyn and Sir. Wil. Waldegrave and three others were appointed as commissioners for Suffolk to investigate the question of pensions for the dispossesed members of religious houses ejected in the previous reign. "

"Twice sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk William shared in the normal duties of a local magnate while appearing at court on important state occasions. In 1536 he and his brother Sir Robert assisted Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk in quelling the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion. His post was not renewed under Edward VI, but he was sufficiently in favour to be recommended as knight of the shire for Suffolk in 1553."

"Drury and Sir Henry Bedingfield,were included in Cecil's list of gentlemen who were expected to transact 'affairs for Queen Jane', but instead both rallied to Mary Tudor he being the second person sent for by her and swearing allegiance in July 1553 She ordered all captains to muster men under him and his nephew Sir William Waldegrave and assisted her at Kenninghall at her proclamation.

"A Privy Councillor surveying ordnance and stores he was also a key player in Mary Tudor's bid to restore Catholicism, he was ordered to search the house of Thomas Pooley of Icklingham who was leading a Protestant revolt against the Queen's proposed marriage to Philip of Spain, and had been appointed in 1552 as a commissioner of Suffolk to investigate the question of pensions for dispossesed members of religious houses "

"His monument inscription -

"Whilst he lived here was loved of every wight.
Such temperance he did retain, such courtesy,
Such noble mind with justice joined, such liberality,
As fame itself shall sound for me the glory of his name".

From - The National Archives PROB 11/40, ff. 127-8

Summary: The document below is the Prerogative Court of Canterbury copy of the will, dated 26 December 1557 and proved 29 April 1558 of Sir William Drury (c.1500- 1558), eldest son and heir of Sir Robert Drury (b. before 1456, d. 1535) and his first wife, Anne Calthorpe.

The testator's father, Sir Robert Drury (b. before 1456, d. 1535), lawyer and speaker of the House of Commons, was chief steward and executor to John de Vere (1442-1513), 13th Earl of Oxford.

The testator married, as his second wife, Elizabeth Sothill (d.1575), one of the twin daughters and heiresses of Henry Sothill, esquire, of Stoke Faston, Leicestershire, attorney-general to King Henry VII, and himself a descendant of King John by a mistress.

The couple had two sons, Robert (d.1557) and Henry (d.1587), and six daughters:
Anne (d.1561), who married Sir Christopher Heydon (d.1579) of Baconsthorpe;
Mary (d.1594), who married firstly, Sir Richard Corbet of Assington, Suffolk, and secondly, on 24 June 1565, Sir John Tyrrell of Gipping, Suffolk;
Frances, who married James Hobart;
Bridget, who married Henry Yelverton (d.1601) of Rougham, Norfolk;
Dorothy (d.1602), who married Robert Rokewood; and
Elizabeth, who married Sir Robert Drury of Rougham.

The testator's eldest son and heir, Robert Drury, died in December 1557, predeceasing his father by only a few weeks.

His wife, Audrey Rich, was one of the nine daughters of Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (1496/7-1567), a member of the council of Oxford's grandfather, John de Vere (1482-1540), 15th Earl of Oxford, and later Lord Chancellor of England. The testator appoints Lord Rich as supervisor in his will below.

By his wife, Audrey Rich, Robert Drury (d.1557) is said to have had the following children:
his son and heir, Sir William Drury (1550-1590), who succeeded at Hawstead;
a second son, Thomas;
two other sons, Henry and Robert, who died without issue;
and eight daughters,
1. Ann, wife of John Thornton of Soham, Cambridge;
2. Mary, wife of Robert Russell of West Rudham, Norfolk;
3. Elizabeth married first Thomas de Grey of Merton, Norfolk, and secondly, Nicholas Mynne of Walsingham, Norfolk;
4. Susan, wife of Robert Baspole;
5. Winifred, wife of Edmund Marchant of Colchester, Essex;
6. Bridget, wife of Richard Zouch of Pitton, Wiltshire;
7. Dorothy, wife of Edward Barnes of Soham, Cambridge.
However the will of their grandmother, Elizabeth (nee Sothill) Drury (d.1575), makes no mention of either Anne or Elizabeth, and mentions another daughter, Audrey.

The testator died on 11 January 1558 and was buried in Hawstead church. The epitaph on his monument is given in Bald, R.C., Donne and the Drurys (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959), p. 10.