Richard Saltonstall (mayor)

Sir Richard Saltonstall (c. 1521 – 17 March 1601) was an English merchant and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1599.^[1]

Sir Richard Saltonstall
Lord Mayor of London
In office 1597–1598
Preceded by	Henry Billingsley
Succeeded by	Stephen Soame
Sheriff of the City of London
In office 1589–1590 Serving with Hugh Ofley
Preceded by	Thomas Skinner John Ketcher
Succeeded by	Stephen Soame Richard Gurney
Member of Parliament for London
In office 1586–1588 Serving with Sir Edward Osborne, William Fleetwood, Thomas Aldersey
Preceded by	Sir Nicholas Woodroffe William Fleetwood Thomas Aldersey Henry Billingsley
Succeeded by	Sir George Barne William Fleetwood Thomas Aldersey Andrew Palmer
Personal details
Born	1521 Yorkshire, England
Died	17 March 1601(1601-03-17) (aged 79–80) South Ockendon, Essex
Spouse	Suzanna Poyntz
Relations	Peter Wyche (grandson) Nathaniel Wyche (grandson) Thomas Myddelton
Children	16

Early life

Saltonstall was born in Yorkshire, England in 1521. He was the second son of Agnes and Gilbert Saltonstall, a cloth merchant of Halifax, Yorkshire who owned lands in Hipperholme.

He was descended from Robert de Saltonstall who held lands in Warley, near Halifax, in 1274.^[2] Saltonstall was the uncle of New England colonist Sir Richard Saltonstall.

Career

For a time, Saltonstall lived in the Netherlands, where he was a member of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London; by 1585, he had become the director of the company. He was also affiliated with the Muscovy Company, the Levant Company, and the English East India Company.

He also had a long political career serving the city of London. He was a member of the city council by 1583, a Member of Parliament in 1586, and an alderman by 1588. He served as Sheriff of the City of London for 1589 and was elected Lord Mayor of London for 1597. He served as master of the Skinners Company in 1589, 1593, from 1595 to 1596, and from 1599 to 1600. He was knighted in 1598.^[3]

Personal life

 

Saltonstall Memorial

 

Sir Richard and Susannah Saltonstall, St Nicholas, South Ockendon

He married Suzanna Poyntz, only daughter of Thomas Poyntz of South Ockendon; together they had seven sons and nine daughters (in addition to at least one illegitimate daughter fathered by Richard), including:^[4]

• Eleanor Saltonstall (1554–c. 1601), who married Vincent Harvie. After his death she married Robert Myddelton, MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
• Hester Saltonstall (1555–1587), who married Sir Thomas Myddelton (a later Lord Mayor of London),^[5]
• Elizabeth Saltonstall (1556–1626), who married Richard Wyche (a director of the English East India Company).^[6]
• Judith Saltonstall (1580–1611), who married Arthur Forest and after his death, Edward Riche of Herenden.^[7]
• Susan Saltonstall, who married Richard Sunderland of Colay near Halifax.^[7]
• Gilbert Saltonstall, who married Anne Harleston of Groves; he died in 1583, predeceasing his father.^[7]
• Edward Saltonstall, who died in 1563, predeceasing his father.^[7]
• Richard Saltonstall, who married Jane Barnard, daughter of Francis Barnard of Northamptonshire.^[7][8]
• Samuel Saltonstall, who was knighted in 1640.^[7]
• Peter Saltonstall (1577–1651), who became an equerry at the court of James VI and I,^[9] and married Christian Pettus, a daughter of Sir John Pettus.^[10] After his wife's death in 1646, he married Anne Waller, daughter of Edward Waller.^[7]
• Martha Saltonstall (1594–1680), who married Dr. John Clark of Boston.^[11][12]
• Anne Saltonstall, who married John Harby of London.^[13]

Sir Richard's estates were at "Mynchenlane", London, Moorhall in Hertfordshire, and South Ockendon near Romford in Essex. Upon his death on 17 March 1601 at his estate in South Ockendon, his heir was his eldest surviving son Richard Salstonstall. His widow died in February 1612 and was buried alongside him at South Ockendon.^[6]

Legacy and memorial

He is interred at St Nicholas of Myra, South Ockendon. There is a fine Elizabethan monument to Sir Richard by his wife Suzanna, located on the north wall of the chapel. The monument is built of variegated marble. Between the columns are two arches forming alcoves for the principal figures of Sir Richard and his wife. Sir Richard can be seen wearing the insignia of the Lord Mayor of London. In the plinth are the figures of their sixteen children.

Saltonstall's wife Suzanna was an aunt of the translator Adrian Poyntz, who dedicated his New and singular patternes & workes of linnen (London, 1591) and Treasure of the Soule (London, 1596) to her and Richard Saltonstall.^[14]

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was grandfather of Sir Peter Wyche (the King's Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire) and Nathaniel Wyche (president of the English East India Company). Through his daughter Hester, he was grandfather of Gen. Sir Thomas Myddelton (a general in the English Civil War).

See also

• Saltonstall family – a Boston Brahmin family descended from Richard Saltonstall through his nephew

References

1. Saltonstall Memorial, St. Nicholas of Myra, South Ockendon
2. Hoyle, William Dickon (1898). "Ancient Houses Near Halifax". The Journal of the British Archaeological Association. New Series. IV: 23–25.
3. "SALTONSTALL, Richard (d.1601), of London and South Ockendon, Essex. - History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
4. Waters, Robert Edmond Chester (1878). Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chicheley: Their Ancestors and Descendants. Robson & Sons. p. 41. ISBN 978-5-87335-084-1. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
5. "MYDDELTON, Thomas (c.1556-1631), of Galch Hill, Denb., Tower Street, London Stansted Mountfichet, Essex. - History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
6. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition. Douglas Richardson. 2011. pp. 385–387. ISBN 978-1-4610-4520-5. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
7. Bond, Henry (1860). Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston: To which is Appended the Early History of the Town. N. E. Historic-genealogical society, for the benefit of the "Bond fund,". p. 59. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
8. Hogan, Julia Rich (1969). Rich Family History: The English beginnings of the Rich family. Hogan. p. 20. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
9. Worsley, Lucy (20 December 2008). Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion, and Great Houses. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-59691-941-9. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
10. Bromley, James M. (27 May 2021). Clothing and Queer Style in Early Modern English Drama. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-263806-9. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
11. Clark, John (1866). Records of the Descendants of Hugh Clark: Of Watertown, Mass. 1640-1866. John Clark. ISBN 978-0-608-32097-7. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
12. Society, New England Historic Genealogical (July 1995). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register,: Volume 31 1877. Heritage Books. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7884-0240-1. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
13. St George, Sir Henry (1935). The Visitations of the County of Northhampton Taken in the Year 1681. Harleian Society. p. 84. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
14. Mrs Bury Palliser, Alice Dryden, Margaret Jourdain, History of Lace, p. 483.

Parliament of England
Preceded by Sir Nicholas Woodroffe William Fleetwood Thomas Aldersey Henry Billingsley	Member of Parliament for London 1586–1588 With: Sir Edward Osborne William Fleetwood Thomas Aldersey	Succeeded by Sir George Barne William Fleetwood Thomas Aldersey Andrew Palmer
Civic offices
Preceded by Thomas Skinner John Ketcher	Sheriffs of the City of London 1589–1590 With: Hugh Ofley	Succeeded by Stephen Soame Richard Gurney
Preceded by Henry Billingsley	Lord Mayor of the City of London 1597–1598	Succeeded by Stephen Soame