Humphrey Coningsby (judge)
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Sir Humphrey Coningsby | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1459 Rock, Worcestershire, England |
| Died | 2 June 1535 (aged 75–76) England |
| Occupations | Lawyer, judge |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Coningsby, Catherine Waldiffe |
Sir Humphrey Coningsby, (c. 1459 – 2 June 1535), was an English lawyer, a Justice of the King's Bench, and a major landholder.[1][better source needed][2][better source needed]
Career
Entering the law, Coningsby practiced as an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas by 1474 and in 1476 acted as Deputy to the Sheriff of Worcestershire. In the 1480s he was the third Prothonotary, the Clerk of Assize on the Western Circuit, and became a Bencher of the Inner Temple. Chosen a justice of the peace for Hertfordshire in 1493, he was created a Serjeant-at-Law in 1495, with clients including Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Buckingham. In 1504, he was added to the commission of the peace for Worcestershire and was promoted to King's Serjeant in 1505.[3] On 21 May 1509, he became a Justice of the King's Bench, being knighted by King Henry VIII that year, and held his position until 28 November 1533.[4]
Landholdings
In parallel with his legal work, Coningsby actively acquired country estates. About 1485, he was executor to Ralph Penne,[3] owner of Penne's Place in Aldenham, Hertfordshire, which he bought. It remained in the family until 1651 From Penne he also acquired the manor of Pigott's in Aldenham..[5] In June 1488, jointly with his first wife Isabel, he bought from William Berkeley, then Earl of Nottingham, the manor of North Piddle in Worcestershire,[6] which descended in the family until 1654. At the same time he acquired the manor of Stottesdon in Shropshire.[7]
Between 1496 and 1514, Coningsby bought more manors or portions of a manor in Titburst, part of Aldenham, from the co-heiresses, but his grandson sold them in 1548.[5] In 1506 he acquired the manor of Orleton in the parish of Eastham in Worcestershire, which his descendants sold in 1658.[8]
By 1509, Coningsby had inherited his father's estate at Rock, where he built the south chapel, south aisle, and west tower of the village church, in which a window once portrayed him in a scarlet gown with his family. In 1510, he founded the chantry of our Blessed Lady and St George in the new south chapel and endowed it with lands for the support of one priest who was to say mass and run a free grammar school, which was set up in 1513.[3] To his inheritance in the parish, he added lands by acquiring the manor of Cheney Moor in 1528, which remained in the family until 1657.[9]
Around 1510 Coningsby acquired the estate of Hampton Court at Hope under Dinmore in Herefordshire, which went to his grandson Humphrey and remained in the family for nearly 300 years.[9]
