Sir Robert Throckmorton, of Coughton
Sir Robert Throckmorton of Coughton (died 1581).
From
National Trust.
Sir Robert Throckmorton,
of
Coughton, Warwickshire,
born before 1513.
See
wikipedia
and
historyofparliamentonline.
He mar 1stly to Muriel Berkeley.
Muriel died 1542.
He had issue by 1st wife:
- Thomas Throckmorton,
of Coughton, Warwickshire,
born before 1536.
See wikipedia
and historyofparliamentonline.
He suffered fines and long imprisonment
for his Catholic beliefs during the reign of
Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603).
Coughton became a focus for post-Reformation
Catholic resistance.
Coughton has priests' hiding places.
His nephew Robert Catesby was leader of the Catholic
Gunpowder plot of 1605.
Another nephew Francis Tresham was part of the plot.
And another plotter,
Sir Everard Digby,
was then in residence at Coughton.
However,
Thomas himself was not directly implicated and he survived.
Thomas died 13 Mar 1615.
-
Mary Throckmorton.
She married Edward Arden.
He is said to be related to Shakespeare's
Arden family.
He was a recusant Catholic and kept a priest at his house in disguise.
His son-in-law implicated him in a Catholic plot against
Elizabeth I
in 1583, and he was executed.
He was hanged, drawn, and quartered
on 20 December 1583.
They had issue:
- Margaret Arden.
She mar John Somerville.
He was also a recusant Catholic.
In 1583, he announced his plan to assassinate
Elizabeth I.
In contrast to his relatives' plots, this ones seems to have been largely imaginary.
He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and tortured. He hanged himself before he could be executed.
He implicated his father-in-law and other relatives, in what was made out to be a Catholic plot.
His relatives may have known nothing of his plans.
His father-in-law was executed.
Sir Robert mar 2ndly, in 1542 or soon after,
to
Elizabeth Hussey.
He was
High Sheriff of
Leicestershire and
Warwickshire
in 1553
(They were joint roles at this time. Later separated.)
Elizabeth died 1554.
He remained Catholic, which ended his career in public life.
Throckmorton became a leading
recusant
Catholic family in England.
He died 12 February 1581.
He was bur at Coughton.
He
had issue by 2nd wife:
- Muriel Throckmorton.
She married Sir Thomas Tresham.
They had issue:
- Francis Tresham.
He was part of the Catholic Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Jailed in the Tower of London,
where he died
on 23 December 1605.
- Anne Throckmorton.
She married Sir William Catesby.
They had issue:
- Robert Catesby.
He was the leader of the Catholic Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
He died on 8 November 1605 resisting capture.
- Thomas Throckmorton of Coughton
was ancestor of
the Throckmorton, Baronets (cr 1642),
of Coughton.
- The Throckmortons of Coughton were one of the most prominent
English Catholic families
during the
Penal Times
(oppression of Catholics).
They were one of the few English Catholic families to
manage to hold on to their estates through this period.
They stuck to their Catholic beliefs
all the way to Catholic Emancipation in the 19th century.
- The Baronetcy became extinct 1994.
- Descendants of the Throckmorton family still live at Coughton.
