| AdminHistory | Writer, of Kent; not educated at university, but taught himself Latin, Greek, French, and German; profited by the dissolution of monasteries and chantries, but converted St John's Hospital, Coventry, granted to him in 1548, into a free school; for the use of his foundation he wrote 'Introductiones ad Grammaticam' (part Latin, part English); opposed to the enclosure of lands; among the six commissioners for the redress of enclosures named for the Midland counties, 1548; incurred the resentment of Dudley, then Earl of Warwick, and the inquiry was checked; as MP for Preston, Lancashire, attempted in Parliament to assist the poor by introducing Bills for rebuilding decayed houses, for maintaining tillage, and against regrating and forestalling of markets, 1548; all were rejected; on Somerset's fall Hales fled from England, and was at Strasbourg, 1552; on the accession of Mary his property was confiscated, and he retired to Frankfurt, where with his brother Christopher he engaged in religious contentions among the English exiles there; returned to England on Mary's death, and greeted Elizabeth with a written oration, which survives; fell into disgrace by interfering in the case of the marriage of the Earl of Hertford, publishing a pamphlet that the marriage was legitimate, and that the title to the crown of England belonged to the house of Suffolk if Elizabeth should die without issue; committed to the Tower, but soon released under Cecil's influence; under bond not to quit his house without royal license, 1568; died, 1571; buried in the church of St Peter-le-Poer, London. Publications included: 'Highway to Nobility', c1543; translated Plutarch's 'Precepts for the Preservation of Health' (London, 1543).
Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland: born in 1525; eldest son of Ralph Neville (1499-1550), 4th Earl of Westmorland; knighted, 1544; succeeded to his title, 1550; held a commission to divide the debatable land between England and Scotland, 1551; probably privy councillor, 1552; ambassador to Scotland, 1552; KG and lord-lieutenant of Durham, 1552; supported Mary on Edward VI's death; again had a commission to treat with Scotland, 1557; general of horse in the northern army, 1557; lieutenant-general of the north, 1558-1559; ecclesiastical commissioner, 1560; married firstly (aged 11) Lady Jane Manners, second daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Rutland, 1536; secondly Jane, daughter of Sir Roger Cholmeley; and, thirdly, her sister Margaret, widow of Sir Henry Gascoigne; died, 1563. |
| CustodialHistory | The manuscript belonged to Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, an antiquary and bibliophile whose collection included c60,000 manuscripts of various kinds, some relating to the administration of Swiss towns. Various manuscripts were sold after Sir Thomas's death, some to the German government, and were dispersed to several libraries. Formerly Phillipps MS 4908; and F Manley Sims Eton Collection. It later formed part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |