COLE, Edward (c.1549-1617), of Winchester, Hants.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1549, s. of John Cole of Sudbury, Suff. by Elizabeth, da. of John Martin; bro. of Martin. m. Christian, da. of William Holcroft, 4s. 1da.

Offices Held

Freeman, Winchester 12 Sept. 1578; bailiff 1578-9; registrar, diocese of Winchester by 13 Apr. 1584; mayor, Winchester 1587-8, 1598-9, 1612-13; public notary by 1596; actuary, Winchester Coll. 1596.

Biography

Of the junior branch of a well-connected Devon family, and a distant relative of Sir William Cole of Enniskillen, Cole was probably already in the service of the bishop of Winchester when he settled in that city in 1578. Three days after he had been admitted to the merchant guild, he was ‘freely forgiven’ the office of lower bailiff of the commons (or bailiff, as it was called) and elected higher bailiff (or bailiff of the 24). In 1579 Mrs Cole was licensed by the burghmote to trade within the city during her lifetime. Cole was an energetic mayor, taking a leading part in the conduct of the city’s lawsuits, one of which lasted 20 years and involved him in a number of visits to London. In 1589, after the city chest had been burgled, the funds were given to him for safe keeping. In 1597 he was granted a share in the reversion of the lease of the manor of ‘Sevanton’ and half the demesne lands of East Meon, Hampshire, which had been demised to the Queen a week earlier by the bishop of Winchester.

Cole was buried in the cathedral 2 Nov. 1617, an elaborate monument ‘of Florentine character’ bearing his coat of arms being erected to his memory in the north aisle. His eldest son, Edward (d.1647), succeeded him as registrar.

DNB (Cole, Sir William); N. and Q. (ser. 4) x. 218; Misc. Gen. et Her. ii. 234-47; J. E. Cole, Gen. Fam. of Cole, 9; J. H. Milner, Hist. Winchester, ii. 311; Vivian, Vis. Devon, 213; PCC 3 Leicester; T. Atkinson, Eliz. Winchester, 70-2; CSP Dom. 1595-7, pp. 228, 460.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Patricia Hyde

Notes