Walter Leveson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Walter Leveson
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | 1550 |
| Died | 20 October 1602 |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Corbet Susan Vernon |
| Issue | Sir Richard Leveson |
| Father | Sir Richard Leveson |
| Mother | Mary Fitton |
Sir Walter Leveson (1550–1602) was an important person in England during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. He was a Member of Parliament, which means he helped make laws. He also owned a lot of land in Shropshire and Staffordshire. Later in his life, he faced many challenges, including problems with his ships and his health.
Contents
Early Life and Family Background
Walter Leveson was born in 1550. His father was Sir Richard Leveson (who died in 1560). His grandfather, James Leveson, was a wool merchant from Wolverhampton. James bought Lilleshall Abbey in 1539 after many monasteries were closed down. He built a house on the abbey's land.
In 1540, James Leveson also bought Trentham Priory, another old monastery. In 1543, he bought the large estate around Lilleshall Abbey. These lands became the main family properties. The family name, Leveson, is pronounced "LEW-sən." In the 1500s, it was spelled in many ways, like Lewson or Luson.
Walter's mother was Mary Fitton (1529–1591). Her father was Sir Edward Fitton, and her brother was Sir Edward Fitton. Sir Edward was a soldier who became very wealthy in Ireland.
Walter Leveson had two sisters. Mary Leveson married Sir George Curzon. Elizabeth Leveson married William Sheldon.
Becoming a Royal Ward
Walter's father, Sir Richard Leveson, died in 1560 when Walter was only about eight years old. Because his father owned land from the Queen, Walter became a "royal ward." This meant the Queen took care of his land until he was old enough.
Walter's care was sold to Sir Francis Knollys. Sir Francis was related to Queen Elizabeth. He made a lot of money from these types of arrangements. Walter did not fully get control of his family's lands until 1572.
Walter Leveson went to Shrewsbury School. It was a new school at the time, and he started there in 1562.
Managing His Estates
Walter Leveson's main properties were at Lilleshall and Trentham. He also owned many smaller estates and houses. When he first became a ward, his lands were worth about £313 a year. This was a good income for a landed gentry family, meaning a family with a lot of land and influence.
Leveson was powerful in his region. He also had profitable business interests in the North Sea trade. These shipping businesses later caused him many problems. He was very determined to control his lands. For example, he fought a long dispute to get back Leegomery, a property near Wellington, Shropshire, from his sister Elizabeth and her husband.
Land Enclosure and Improvements
Like his family before him, Leveson was keen on "enclosing" land. This meant he wanted to mark out and control areas that were shared by many people. He tried to take full control of lands around his estates that were not clearly owned.
This was especially true in the Weald Moors. This was a large, marshy area west of Lilleshall. People from nearby villages had rights to let their animals graze there. Landowners wanted to drain and improve these moors to make more money. They also wanted clear boundaries.
In 1574, Leveson and the lord of Kynnersley agreed on a fixed boundary. In 1582, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, who owned land in Wrockwardine, sold his share of the moor to Leveson. Leveson then started enclosing and improving the land. Soon, most of the area from Wrockwardine to Kynnersley was enclosed by Leveson or his tenants.
On his estate at Little Wenlock, tenants used to get wood from the forests. But the forests were in bad shape. Leveson enclosed all the woodland, taking away the commoners' rights to use it.
Industrial Ventures
Farming was not the only way Leveson made money from his lands. By 1580, he had water-powered trip hammers at Lubstree. These machines were used for shaping metal. He also had a bloomery (a type of iron furnace) in Lilleshall village.
Leveson also built a blast furnace, one of the first in the West Midlands. This was likely at Donnington Wood, near Wrockwardine. This area had wood for making charcoal and ironstone, which are both needed for iron production. Coal mining also happened here, but coal was mostly used for heating homes.
Public Service and Financial Challenges
Owning land was important for getting public jobs. Leveson became a Justice of the Peace (a local judge) in Shropshire in 1575. Within two years, he was also a justice in Staffordshire. He became High Sheriff of Shropshire for 1575–76 and High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1586–87. He was also made a deputy to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, who was in charge of coastal matters for North Wales. In 1587, he was made a knight.
Around this time, Leveson started having serious money problems. After 1590, he had to take emergency steps to get cash. He sold two smaller estates, Little Dawley and Little Wenlock, to Sir Rowland Hayward. However, he managed to keep his main estates at Lilleshall and Trentham.
Leveson often needed quick money to pay people he owed. One way he did this was by selling "leases." A lease is like renting land for a long time. In some areas, leases were usually for 21 years or less. Leveson started giving much longer leases, often for "three lives," meaning they would last for the lives of three people.
He did this at Weald Moor, selling long leases to his tenants. In return, they had to maintain roads, bridges, and water systems. In 1592, he granted 13 leases at Donnington Wood in one day. These were mostly short-term leases, allowing tenants to clear land for pasture (animal grazing). He partnered with his brothers-in-law, Vincent and Richard Corbet, to use the industrial resources. He kept the rights to the timber, smaller wood, and minerals. A year earlier, he had leased all his Shropshire ironworks, furnaces, forges, and hammers to his brothers-in-law for 10 years.
Parliamentary Role
Walter Leveson represented Shropshire in Parliament three times. He served in the parliaments of 1584, 1586–87, and 1589. This was quite a lot for the time, as many landowners did not want to spend too much time on political work.
Walter's father, Sir Richard, had also been a Member of Parliament for Shropshire. Walter's father-in-law, Sir Andrew Corbet, was a powerful figure in the Council of Wales and the Marches. The Leveson and Corbet families had enough power in the county to help their chosen candidates get elected. Because of this, the Members of Parliament for Shropshire often came from a small group of families.
In 1584, Leveson was elected with Francis Bromley. Francis was the son of a powerful judge, George Bromley. In 1586, Leveson's brother-in-law, Richard Corbet, was the other Member of Parliament. In 1588, Walter Leveson was listed before his own son, Sir Richard Leveson, showing his importance.
Leveson served in Parliament one more time, in 1597–98. This time, he represented Newcastle-under-Lyme. This change was important. He was in a lot of debt and sought the protection that being a Member of Parliament offered. He could no longer rely on his family in Shropshire, so he went to Newcastle, a town where he had a lot of influence as the lord of Trentham.
Later Life and Challenges
Walter Leveson's fortunes changed greatly starting in 1587. In December of that year, there was a complaint that his men had taken goods from Danish ships in Norway. The main person complaining was John Paul, who said he lost a lot of money.
At this time, Denmark and Norway were ruled by the same king, Christian IV of Denmark. Even though Christian IV was young, the situation was serious. Denmark was an important ally for England. The English court ordered Leveson to pay £2300, a huge amount of money. He was sent to prison until he paid.
He made an agreement with John Paul. In August 1588, a letter from the Danish leaders thanked Queen Elizabeth for promising to help John Paul get his money back. Leveson was out of prison in time for the elections in November 1588. However, his problems were not over. There were more letters from Denmark, and in March 1590, a letter from England mentioned that Sir Walter Leveson was still in prison because of the payment to "Paulson the Dane."
More Shipping Troubles
Meanwhile, more complaints came in. This time, Leveson's crews were accused of attacking Dutch ships in the North Sea. These incidents happened even before the problems in Norway.
In 1586, Sir Walter Leveson's ships were accused of damaging three fishing boats and another ship from Holland near the Scottish coast. Goods worth over £2,850 were taken. This was a serious issue because Holland was an ally of England, especially when England was fighting Catholic Spain.
Leveson was not the only person accused of such actions, but his crew's actions were very bad. This case also dragged on because Leveson avoided hearings and broke promises. He even failed to appear when the Privy Council (the Queen's advisors) summoned him. He did get temporary royal protection in 1590, and his return to Parliament in 1597 was a way to avoid his problems. However, for the rest of his life, he was chased by the people he owed money to.
False Accusations and Imprisonment
In March 1598, Leveson was no longer protected by Parliament. His creditors caught up with him in Lambeth, and he was sent to the Fleet Prison. While he was in prison, a man named Robert Wayland made strange accusations against him. These included claims that Leveson tried to harm several people, including his daughter-in-law, Margaret. Margaret was the daughter of Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham, a very important naval leader.
These accusations were embarrassing for his son, Sir Richard Leveson, who was becoming famous. They also worried Walter Leveson greatly. He wrote to important people in the government, like Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Sir Robert Cecil.
In December 1598, he wrote to the Earl of Essex. He explained that because of some legal issues, all his property and money he was owed might go to the Queen. He asked Essex to help him by having the Queen grant his property to Essex, or to his brother-in-law, Robert Vernon. He said he was in prison for debt but that people owed him more money than he owed them. He believed if he could sue his own debtors, he could pay off his creditors.
Leveson started to think that all his problems were part of a big plot against him. He thought the reasons for this plot changed. At one point, he believed it was because of his second marriage to Susan Vernon, who was Essex's cousin. Later, he became convinced that his son and another person named Ethell were behind the conspiracy. In April 1600, he wrote to Cecil, asking to face his accuser.
By the end of 1600, Leveson told Cecil that he had "lately fallen ill." He believed his illness was caused by being "closed in a dark melancholy lodging." He died in the Fleet Prison on 20 October 1602. He left behind large debts for his son and heir, Richard. Richard died less than three years later and was often away from England.
The job of managing the family's lands fell to Walter's cousin, Sir John Leveson, and then to John's wife, Christian. They were able to bring stability back to the family's finances. It was John and Christian's son, another Richard Leveson (1598–1661), who eventually inherited what was left of the Leveson family's wealth.
Marriages and Family
Walter Leveson married two times.
His first wife was Anne Corbet. She was the daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet. With Anne, he had his son and heir, Sir Richard Leveson. They also had a daughter, Penelope Leveson, who married Sir John Tunstall.
His second wife was Susan Vernon, also known as Susanna. She was the granddaughter of George Vernon. Susan was the sister of Elizabeth Vernon, who later became the Countess of Southampton. She was also the sister of Sir Robert Vernon, who worked for Queen Elizabeth I. Susan was a cousin of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Walter and Susan did not have any children together.
