Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy of Ireland)
Sir Anthony St Leger,
Origins
Anthony St Leger was the eldest son of
Career
He was educated abroad and at the
Lord Deputy of Ireland
On 7 July 1540, Sir Anthony was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland and tasked with the repression of disorder. He moved against the MacMorrough-Kavanagh clan, who had long claimed the title of
St Leger's policy was generally one of moderation and conciliation, more so than Henry VIII wished. He recommended the head of the House of O'Brien, when he gave token of a submissive disposition, for the title of
An administrative council was instituted in the province of
Knight of the Garter
In 1544, he was nominated by King Henry VIII as a Knight of the Garter. His Garter stall plate survives, affixed to his former stall in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. It is inscribed above with the motto: SOMIENE DE MOY DIEN (apparently garbled French, possibly for souviens de mon dieu, "I remember my God"?) and at the base in semi-illiterate French (i.e. with basic errors in gender):
Du noble et vailant chevalier mesier Antonye Sentleger Deputie pour la roy en son royalme d'Ierlond et une de la estroiet chamber du roy NRE (n(ot)re?) souverain SHR frere et compaignon de la tres noble Ordre de la Jarretiere ("Of the noble and valiant knight Sir Anthony St Ledger, deputy for the king in his kingdom of Ireland and one of the privy chamber of the king (our?) sovereign SHR? brother and companion of the most noble Order of the Garter").
The heraldry shows an escutcheon circumscribed by the Garter displaying the arms quarterly 1 & 4: Azure fretty argent (St Ledger); 2 & 3: Argent, three barnacles gules tied sable (Donet of Sileham, Rainham, Kent). Sir Anthony's great-grandfather Sir John St Leger (d.1442) of Ulcombe, married Margery Donet (or Donnet), daughter and heiress of James Donet (d.1409) of Sileham. His crest is shown as: A griffin statant (Crest of St Leger family, Viscount Doneraile: A griffin passant or (Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 365)) and his supporters: Two griffins wings elevated (supporters of St Leger family, Viscount Doneraile: Two griffins or wings elevated azure fretty argent (Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 365)).
Character
St Leger seems to have been a quarrelsome and unpopular man; certainly, he was on very bad terms with other leading figures in the Dublin administration, particularly
Landholdings
As well as having inherited the paternal estate of Ulcombe, the St Leger family's seat from the 11th century, in 1552, he was granted possession of
Marriage and progeny
St Leger married Agnes Warham, daughter of Sir Hugh Warham of Croydon by Marion, daughter of Geoffrey Colle, and niece of William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury.
By Agnes, he had at least five sons and two daughters, including:
- William St Leger, who predeceased his father, albeit having left a son Sir Warham St Leger (d. 1600), whose own son was President of Munster.
- Warham St Leger
References
- ^ Richardson III 2011, pp. 216–17, 481.
- ^ Robertson 1893–95, pp. 70–1.
- ^ "Sentleger, Anthony (SNTR496A)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Hart, A.R. A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law in Ireland Dublin Four Courts Press 2000 p.30
- ^ National Library of Ireland Collection No.90 Louth Papers
- ^ Morris, Christoper The Tudors Fontana edition 1966 p.99
- ^ "ST. LEGER (SELLENGER), Sir Anthony (c.1496-1559), of Ulcombe and Leeds Castle, Kent". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
- ^ O'Flanagan, J. Roderick Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland London 1870
- ^ O'Flanagan Lives of the Chancellors
- ^ Robert Dudley Edwards Ireland in the Age of the Tudors Croom Helm London 1977 p.58
Sources
- Hasler, M.R.P. & P. W., Biography of St Leger (Sellenger), Sir Anthony (c.1496-1559), of Ulcombe and Leeds Castle, Kent, published in History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
- Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. pp. 216–17, 481. ISBN 978-1449966393.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Robertson, Herbert (1893–95). Stemmata Robertson et Durdin. London: Mitchell and Hughes. pp. 70–1. ISBN 978-1-84383-614-8. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- Dunlop, Robert (1897). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Bryson, Alan. "St Leger, Sir Anthony (1496?–1559)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24512. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "St Leger, Sir Anthony". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Notes
- A biography of Sir Anthony St Leger will be found in Athenae Cantabrigienses, by Charles Henry Cooper and Thompson Cooper (Cambridge, 1858)
According to the Irish Genealogical Office, Kildare Street, Dublin, Sir Anthony St Leger KG held office as the King's Deputy (Lord Deputy) in Ireland for five terms, not three, as commonly held. His terms of office were as follows :
1st term: 7 July 1540 to 10 February 1544 2nd term: 3 July 1544 to 1 April 1546 3rd term: 7 November 1546 to 21 May 1548 4th term: 4 August 1550 to 23 May 1551 5th term: 1 September 1553 to 26 May 1556
See also
- Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland, Hen. VIII-Eliz.
- Calendar of Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII.
- Calendar of State Papers (Domestic Series), Edward VI-James I
- Calendar of Carew Manuscripts
- J O'Donovan's edition of Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters (7 vols., Dublin, 1851)
- Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors (3 Vols., London, 1885–1890)
- JA Froude, History of England (12 vols., London, 1856–1870).
For Sir William St Leger, see:
- Strafford's Letters and Despatches (2 vols., London, 1739)
- Thomas Carte, History of the Life of James, Duke of Ormonde (6 vols., Oxford, 1851)
- History of the Irish Confederation and the War in Ireland, edited by J. T. Gilbert(Dublin, 1882–1891).
External links
- Hutchinson, John (1892). . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. p. 118.
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