Sir Henry Neville III (1588-1629)

Topic: Sir Henry Neville III (1588-1629)

1. Verified Sourced Facts

• The user-supplied History of Parliament transcription states:

“bap. 10 Mar. 1588”

• The same transcription states:

“1st s. of Sir Henry Neville I* of Billingbear and Anne”

• It states:

“educ. Merton, Oxf. 1600, aged 12, BA 1603”

• It states:

“travelled abroad (France) 1607-8”

• CSPD James I vol. 1, p. 371, gives a 24 Sept. 1607 printed-calendar control for a licence to Sir Henry Neville and his son to travel for three years with William Symondson, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
• CSPD James I vol. 1, p. 372, gives a 29 Sept. 1607 printed-calendar control for a grant to Henry Neville, in reversion after Sir Henry Neville his father, of the offices of Keeper of Sunninghill Park and Mote Park in Windsor Forest and Riding Forester of Battleswalk.
• CSPD Elizabeth vol. 5, p. 157, gives a January 1599 elder-Sir-Henry control for the same office/world before the son's reversion: Queen Elizabeth directed Sir Henry Neville to arrange restraint of game/deer killing in Mote Park and Sunninghill Park during his absence as resident ambassador in France.
• The two 1607 CSPD James I entries are printed-calendar/docquet controls, not the underlying warrant, docquet, grant, or patent images.
• A BRO/Royal Berkshire account for Harry Neville, covering Michaelmas 1604 to Shrovetide 1609, preserves household and educational expenses for the son of Sir Henry Neville. The account includes paper, a bound song book, and book/course entries transcribed as poetria and analysis in politica.
• The same account supports a literary and political educational environment for Henry Neville III while he was the elder Neville's son and heir; it should not be used as direct evidence that Henry Neville III wrote or owned Shakespeare texts.
• A 24 November Paris letter from William Simondes to Sir Henry Neville at Billingbear concerns Neville's son in Paris, money/credit arrangements, dangerous company in Paris, and news from the French Protestant Synod at Gergeau. It also mentions Sir Thomas Overbury in a difficult line that should be checked before overreading.
• A Sir Henry Killigrew letter to Neville while Neville was ambassador resident in France mentions Neville's two sonnes at schole, strengthening the family-education context around the younger Neville.
• It states:

“m. 2 May 1609 (with £3,200), Elizabeth”

• It states:

“kntd. 30 Mar. 1609”

• It states:

“suc. fa. 1615”

• It gives constituency dates:

“CHIPPING WYCOMBE 1614”

“WILTON 8 Nov. 1621”

• It lists offices:

“High steward, Wokingham, Berks. 1615”

“kpr. Battle’s Walk, Windsor Forest, Berks. 1615-21”

• It lists company memberships:

“Member, E.I. Co. by 1618, Africa Co. 1618, New River Co. by 1619, Virg. Co. by 1620.”

• It lists court office:

“Gent. privy chamber, extraordinary 1628-d.”

• It states:

“d. 29 June 1629. sig. Henry Nevill.”

• It states:

“following Neville’s death, Pembroke purchased the wardship of Neville’s son, and his secretary, Sir John Thoroughgood, subsequently married Neville’s widow and acquired the wardship himself.”

• It states:

“He died on 29 June, and was buried the following day in the church of St. Lawrence Waltham”

• Anthony White's 1628 Oxford book Truth and error discouered in two sermons in St Maries in Oxford is dedicated to Sr HENRY NEVILL OF PILLINGBERE IN Berks his much honoured Patron.
• Because the elder Sir Henry Neville died in 1615 and Henry Neville III died in 1629, the 1628 dedication is a direct printed witness to Henry Neville III.
• The White dedication is a separate post-1615 patronage witness from the 1619 A King and No King dedication to Sir Henrie Nevill.
• Two post-1615 State Papers Online/Gale image packets preserve letters from Sir Henry Neville III into the Conway secretarial network: SP 14/119 f.38, dated 15 Jan. 1621, and SP 16/85 f.53, dated 24 Nov. 1627.
• The 1621 Conway letter is signed Henry Nevill, dated from Billingbeare, and addressed to Sir Edward Conway.
• The 1627 Conway letter is signed Henry Nevill, dated from Billingbeare, and addressed to Lord Viscount Conway as principal secretary.
• The New River share issue dated 8 May 1612 belongs most likely to the elder Sir Henry Neville, not Henry Neville III; this distinction should be maintained even though Henry Neville III later appears in company-membership summaries as a New River Company member by 1619.
• Genealogical sources record that Henry Neville III had at least eight children. Named children include Richard (b. 1615, died young) and Henry (b. 1620). His widow Elizabeth survived him by several decades, dying c. 1669, and remarried twice after his death in 1629. These details are from genealogical sources and have not yet been verified against direct archival witnesses in this packet.
• BHO/VCH Waltham St Lawrence gives a derivative but useful estate-succession control: the third Sir Henry Neville died in 1629, left his son Richard as heir, Billingbear had been settled on his wife Elizabeth for life, and Elizabeth later married Sir John Thorowgood and lived there until her death in 1669.
• The 1664-6 Berkshire visitation, in the edited Metcalfe source note, independently gives Henry Neville III's wife as Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Smith of Osten Hanger, co. Kent, Kt. and names Sir John Thorowgood as the widow's second husband. This is a later pedigree witness, not a primary marriage or probate record.
• Shaw records:

“1609, Mar. 30. HENRY NEVILL, of Berks, (ibid).”

• The Neville inquisition packet preserves the heir wording at the elder Neville’s death:

“Henricus Nevill Armiger est filius et heres ppinquior”

• The same inquisition preserves the heir’s age:

“viginti septem annor et amplius”

• Source-control update, 2026-05-27: the redone inquisition transcription preserves the same heir finding and adds fuller estate context. It confirms that after the elder Sir Henry Neville's death, the younger sons William, Edward, Charles, Richard, and the younger Henry were living at Billingbear, while Henry Neville III was the son and nearest heir aged 27+.
• The redone inquisition transcription also matters for Henry Neville III because the estate arrangements use 21-year terms for executors/administrators for debts, legacies, education, and preferment of children before later remainders to sons. This should be treated as family-estate context, not as direct evidence of Henry Neville III's literary activity.

2. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

• No Ken Feinstein Twitter/blog material is isolated in this packet at present.

3. Quoted Source Text

History of Parliament transcription

• “bap. 10 Mar. 1588”
• “1st s. of Sir Henry Neville I* of Billingbear and Anne”
• “educ. Merton, Oxf. 1600, aged 12, BA 1603”
• “travelled abroad (France) 1607-8”
• “m. 2 May 1609 (with £3,200), Elizabeth”
• “kntd. 30 Mar. 1609”
• “suc. fa. 1615”
• “CHIPPING WYCOMBE 1614”
• “WILTON 8 Nov. 1621”
• “High steward, Wokingham, Berks. 1615”
• “kpr. Battle’s Walk, Windsor Forest, Berks. 1615-21”
• “Member, E.I. Co. by 1618, Africa Co. 1618, New River Co. by 1619, Virg. Co. by 1620.”
• “Gent. privy chamber, extraordinary 1628-d.”
• “d. 29 June 1629. sig. Henry Nevill.”
• “following Neville’s death, Pembroke purchased the wardship of Neville’s son, and his secretary, Sir John Thoroughgood, subsequently married Neville’s widow and acquired the wardship himself.”
• “He died on 29 June, and was buried the following day in the church of St. Lawrence Waltham”

CSPD / Archive.org printed-calendar controls

• CSPD p. 371: travel licence for Sir Henry Neville and son with William Symondson.
• CSPD p. 372: reversionary grant for Sunninghill Park, Mote Park, and Battleswalk offices.
• CSPD Elizabeth p. 157: January 1599 elder-Sir-Henry deer/game notice for Mote and Sunninghill Parks during French embassy absence.

BRO / Royal Berkshire transcriptions

• “A note of Harries expences from michelmas & christmas 1604”
• “for paper and binding a song book”
• “for bookes at m^r sakes { poetria”
• “analysis in politica”
• “your order taken with mr Willason for monyes to your sonne”
• “The 200^li you last sent to Saumur”
• “many daungerous provocations”
• “touching yr two sonnes at schole”

Shaw

• “1609, Mar. 30. HENRY NEVILL, of Berks, (ibid).”

Neville inquisition

• “Henricus Nevill Armiger est filius et heres ppinquior”
• “viginti septem annor et amplius”
• “William Nevill Edward Nevill Charles Nevill Richard Nevill and Henry Nevill ... are likewise livinge and in full life at Billingbere”

Anthony White, Truth and error discouered (1628)

• “Sr HENRY NEVILL OF PILLINGBERE IN Berks his much honoured Patron.”
• “I should much feare the exactnesse of your iudgement”

Conway letters

• “Sir Hen. Neville to Sir Edw. Conway.”
• “SP 14/119 f.38”
• “Jan. 15 1621”
• “Sir Henry Neville to Sec. Conway.”
• “SP 16/85 f.53”
• “Nov. 24 1627”

4. Citations

• Thrush, Andrew. “NEVILLE, Sir Henry III (1588-1629), of Billingbear, Berks.” The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/neville-sir-henry-iii-1588-1629.
• Shaw, William A. The Knights of England. Vol. 2, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft.
• BHO/VCH Waltham St Lawrence local text: waltham_st_lawrence_bho.txt.
• Berkshire visitation source note: BERKSHIRE_VISITATION_1664_6_NEVILL_SOURCE_NOTE.md.
• Henry Neville III person control: NEV-BILL-1629-HENRY.md.
• neville_inquisition_1615.md
• Redone inquisition transcription, C 142/356/123/005, added 2026-05-27: C_142_356_123_005.md.
• White, Anthony. Truth and error discouered in two sermons in St Maries in Oxford. Oxford: John Lichfield for Henry Curteyne, 1628. STC 25376; EEBO-TCP A15075; EEBO reel 1016:10.
• anthony_white_truth_and_error_1628_henry_neville_iii.md
• henry_neville_iii_conway_letters_1621_1627.md
• new_river_project.md
• Harry Neville household and education expenses, D/EN/F6/series: Doc_22m_D_EN_F6_series.md.
• William Simondes to Sir Henry Neville at Billingbear, Paris, 24 November, D/EN/F6/2/4: Doc_14e_D_EN_F6_2_4.md.
• Sir Henry Killigrew to Sir Henry Neville in France, 27 May, D/EN/F6/2/1: Doc_14g_D_EN_F6_2_1.md.
• bro_transcriptions_source_dossier.md, source map for the BRO/Royal Berkshire transcription corpus.
• CSPD James I vol. 1, p. 371, Archive.org calendarofstatep01grea, travel licence for Sir Henry Neville and his son with William Symondson: https://archive.org/details/calendarofstatep01grea/page/371.
• CSPD James I vol. 1, p. 372, Archive.org calendarofstatep01grea, reversionary grant of Sunninghill Park, Mote Park, and Battleswalk offices: https://archive.org/details/calendarofstatep01grea/page/372.
• CSPD Elizabeth vol. 5, p. 157, Archive.org cu31924091775290, Queen Elizabeth's January 1599 Windsor deer/game notice to the elder Sir Henry Neville: https://archive.org/details/cu31924091775290/page/157. Source note: queen_elizabeth_windsor_deer_notice_1599_source_note_2026_06_04.md.
• Archive.org Neville sweep note: archive_org_neville_sweep_2026_06_04.md.

5. Notes on Access

• The History of Parliament wording used here comes from user-supplied transcription in chat.
• The purchaser named in the History of Parliament transcription is Pembroke, meaning William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. Philip Herbert should not be treated as the documented wardship purchaser in this packet.
• If Philip Herbert is mentioned elsewhere in connection with this packet, he should be treated as broader Pembroke-Montgomery context only. The documented wardship purchaser in the HoP wording is William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.
• This packet preserves the biography and wardship facts only. The separate inference that he is the likely Sir Henrie Nevill of the 1619 A King and No King dedication belongs in a_king_and_no_king_1619_walkley_nevill.md, not here.
• The Anthony White dedication is now treated in its own packet because it is a direct printed witness to Henry Neville III's patronage identity in 1628.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-05-03: the Conway letters strengthen Henry Neville III as an active post-1615 correspondent in the Conway secretarial network, but the Shakespeare-quarto collecting route remains a separate lead until direct Conway-library evidence is added.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-05-03: the 1612 New River share issue should be assigned to the elder Sir Henry Neville unless contrary evidence appears. Henry Neville III's later New River Company membership remains sourced separately through History of Parliament-style biography.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-05-27: the BRO Harry Neville expense account and Simondes Paris letter strengthen the younger Neville's education/travel context, especially literary/political study and French residence. Treat the readings m^r sakes, poetria, and analysis in politica as transcription-level leads until the images are checked again.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-05-27: the redone IPM transcription does not change Henry Neville III's heir status, but it improves family-estate context by restoring the English living-status line for his younger brothers and the 21-year estate mechanism for debts, legacies, education, and preferment.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-05-30: do not treat HoP, BHO/VCH, or edited visitation entries as direct proof of Henry Neville III's complete child list, Elizabeth Smythe's marriage settlement, the Pembroke wardship transaction, or the republican Henry Neville descent. The direct controls currently in this packet are the 1615 IPM, the BRO education/travel materials, the 1628 White dedication, and the Conway letters; spouse, widow, heir, wardship, and later-descendant claims need primary settlement/probate/wardship checks before final prose.
• Source-hardening result, 2026-06-04: Archive.org's CSPD James I vol. 1 scan adds printed-calendar controls for the 1607 father-son travel licence and the reversionary Windsor Forest office grant. These strengthen the Henry Neville III biography, but the underlying government record images still need to be identified and retrieved before exact legal wording is quoted.
• The 1599 CSPD Elizabeth deer/game notice belongs primarily to the elder Sir Henry Neville and ambassador/Windsor Forest packets. It is included here only because it helps explain the office context later granted in reversion to Henry Neville III.

6. Genealogy Hardening Controls

• T1 direct: the 1615 IPM identifies Henry Neville III as son and nearest heir aged 27+, and names his younger brothers in the estate sequence.
• T1/T2 derivative: BHO/VCH Waltham St Lawrence controls the post-1629 estate succession narrative but should be cited as county-history synthesis unless its footnoted records are checked.
• T2 edited visitation: the 1664-6 Berkshire visitation supports Elizabeth Smythe and Sir John Thorowgood in the widow lane, but it is not a substitute for marriage settlement, probate, or parish records.
• BRO family-context: Doc_22m, Doc_14e, and Doc_14g strengthen the younger Neville's education and travel context before 1615. They do not prove literary authorship, manuscript ownership, or Shakespeare transmission.
• BRO estate lead: Doc_20c is important for Lawrence Waltham / William Neville / debt and annuity arrangements, but the BRO audit marks it as still needing final line-by-line collation.
• Rejected shortcut: genealogy websites may help locate names and dates, but no child, descent, remarriage, or wardship claim should be upgraded from them without a primary or institutional witness.

Father/Son Biography-Sweep Note, 2026-06-24

• New elder-Sir-Henry packet: sir_henry_neville_elder_1593.md.
• Keep the three Henrys separate: elder Sir Henry d.1593; ambassador Sir Henry c.1563/4-1615; Sir Henry Neville III 1588-1629.
• The father packet now explains why the 1607 reversionary grant to Henry Neville III for Sunninghill/Mote/Battleswalk matters: those offices descend from the grandfather/father Windsor Forest world built out of Edwardian and Elizabethan local office-holding. Do not treat Henry III's later office entries as detached from the family office chain.