Family and Education

b. c.1534, yr. s. of Maurice Walshe of Little Sodbury by Bridget, da. of Nicholas, 1st Baron Vaux. m. Mary, da. of Sir John Berkeley of Stoke Gifford, 1s. 2da. suc. bro. Anthony 1557.

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. by 1559, sheriff 1561-2.

Biography

Walshe’s prospects as a younger son in a large family were poor until, in the summer of 1556, while the family was at dinner, ‘a fiery, sulphurous globe passing from one window to another’ killed his father and one of his children, and injured six more so badly that they died within the next few months. Only two sons, Nicholas and his younger brother Henry, were left alive. So many deaths in a short time made the question of succession complicated, especially as some of the property was held directly of the Crown, and though a jury declared in January 1557 that Nicholas was heir to his elder brother Anthony, it was not until March 1563, when he was sitting in Parliament, that he received livery of his lands. These were extensive, including the manors of Old and Little Sodbury, Olveston, Kingsgrove, Northwick and Radwick. Some of the property was subject to the life interest of his grandmother, Lady Anne Walshe. In May 1565 he increased the value of the Sodbury estate by buying the mansion house of Camers Place from Sir Ralph Sadler. Walshe took no active part in the affairs of his one Parliament and was granted leave of absence on 12 Mar. 1563. He died in his early thirties 19 Feb. 1568, his will being proved 17 May. As Walshe’s heir Henry was only three, the estates were subjected to a long wardship. Then Henry was killed in a duel, whereupon what was left of them went to a cousin.

Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 8, 265; Wards 7/11/39; PCC 10 Babington; C142/109/71, 77; Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. xiii. 4; CPR, 1560-3, p. 598; 1563-6, p. 308; CJ, i. 69.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: N. M. Fuidge

Notes