Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth

Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth (c. 1460 – 1526) was a leading

nobleman, soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.^[1]

Early life

He was born about 1460, eldest son of

Anglo-Irish nobility, reminded steadfastly loyal. The date of his father's death and his own succession to the title is uncertain but it was probably before 1487.^[2]

Tudor dynasty, warned Henry VII of the impending invasion.^[1] Following Henry's triumph at the Battle of Stoke Field, Nicholas was rewarded with a substantial grant of money (this was noteworthy in itself as Henry, throughout his reign, was notorious for his parsimony) and the confirmation of his right to the Lordship of Howth.^[1]

The King, however, could not resist playing a joke by inviting Howth and ten other Irish nobles (nearly all of whom had received a

royal pardon for their share in the rebellion), to a banquet at Greenwich in 1489 where, to their great embarrassment, they were waited on at table by Lambert Simnel, who had also been pardoned and made a kitchen boy (he was later promoted to the office of Falconer

).

Howth attended the sessions of the

Knights of the Brotherhood of Saint George, a short-lived standing army entrusted with the defence of Dublin and the surrounding counties.^[3]

Battle of Knockdoe

Despite their differences over the Simnel rebellion, Howth became a close ally of Kildare (who like Simnel, and most of the Irish nobility, had received a

negotiate.^[1]

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

Lord Howth was

lawyers, so it is likely enough that Nicholas also had some legal training.^[6] O'Flanagan notes that his career as Lord Chancellor leaves no trace on the records, but that in the absence of any complaints about his performance, he presumably fulfilled his duties adequately enough.^[7] He was a founder member of the Guild of the Fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the House of St Thomas the Martyr, one of the Guilds of the City of Dublin, which protected the interests of carpenters, millers, masons and tilers.^[8]

The death of his great patron, the Earl of Kildare, in 1513 meant the end of Howth's political career, as the anti-Kildare faction sought to exclude his supporters from power; [1]he was dismissed from the Lord Chancellorship and the Privy Council of Ireland and lived largely in retirement until his death in 1526.^[1]

Family

Lord Howth married three times and had children with each marriage. His first wife was Genet (or Jenet) Plunkett, daughter of

Archbishop of Dublin, and widow of Sir Nicholas Cheevers. After Lord Howth's death, Alison made the third marriage into the Plunkett family.^[9]

He had eleven children. Christopher, the eldest son, was Genet Plunkett's son, as were four of the daughters. Christopher's own wife Alice Bermingham was his stepmother Ann Berford's daughter by her first husband. Ann and Lord Howth had three children, Amory, Robert and Katherine. William and Marian were the children of his third marriage to Alison Fitzsimon.

The children were:

Christopher St Lawrence, 5th Baron Howth
Amory;
Robert;
William
Thomas;
Katherine, who married Sir John Plunkett;
Marian, who married firstly Sir Christopher Nugent, by whom she was the mother of the 5th
Master of the Rolls in Ireland
, by whom she had two children;
Eleanor, who married Sir Walter Cheevers, (who was her stepmother Alison's son by a previous marriage);
Margaret, who married Sir William Darcy, Vice-Treasurer of Ireland;
Elizabeth, who married Thomas Netterville, judge of the Court of Common Pleas but had no issue;
Alison, who married firstly John Netterville of Dowth, a cousin of Thomas Netterville, and ancestor of the 1st Viscount Netterville; and secondly Sir Patrick White, Baron of the Court of Exchequer, by whom she had two sons including the writer and political reformer Rowland White, and a daughter;
Anne, who married Thomas Cusack.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "St. Lawrence, Nicholas" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^ McCormack, Anthony M. "Robert St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth" Dictionary of Irish Biography Cambridge University Press
^ Ware, Sir James History of Ireland Dobsons Dublin 1705
^ Ball, F. Elrington History of the Parishes of Dublin Vol.5 Dublin Alexander Thom and Co 1917
^ O'Flanagan, J. Roderick Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland 2 Volumes London 1870
^ Ball F. Elrington, The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 (1926) John Murray, London.
^ Lives of the Lord Chancellors
^ Patent Roll 23 Henry VII
^ Cokayne Complete Peerage Reprinted Gloucester 6 volumes 2000

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Robert St Lawrence	Baron Howth c.1488–1526	Succeeded by Christopher St Lawrence

[DNB-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "St. Lawrence, Nicholas" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

[2] McCormack, Anthony M. "Robert St Lawrence, 2nd Baron Howth" Dictionary of Irish Biography Cambridge University Press

[3] Ware, Sir James History of Ireland Dobsons Dublin 1705

[4] Ball, F. Elrington History of the Parishes of Dublin Vol.5 Dublin Alexander Thom and Co 1917

[5] O'Flanagan, J. Roderick Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland 2 Volumes London 1870

[6] Ball F. Elrington, The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 (1926) John Murray, London.

[7] Lives of the Lord Chancellors

[8] Patent Roll 23 Henry VII

[9] Cokayne Complete Peerage Reprinted Gloucester 6 volumes 2000

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