John Gostwick
Encyclopedia
Life
He was born the son of John Gostwick in Willington, BedfordshireWillington, Bedfordshire
Willington is a village and civil parish located in the English county of Bedfordshire. It is west of Moggerhanger on the road from Sandy to Bedford...
, and educated in Potton
Potton
Potton is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is 10 miles from Bedford and the population in 2001 was 4,473 people. In 1783 the 'Great Fire of Potton' destroyed a large part of the town. The parish church dates from the 13th Century and is dedicated to St Mary...
. Around 1510 he entered the service of Cardinal Wolsey and became a Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher
Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders.-Historical:...
to Henry VII. He was also a merchant importing caps and hats from the continent of Europe. By 1517 he was a wax chandler. In 1523 he took on an auditorship at court, and pursued a career as a financial officer.
In 1529 Gostwick bought Willington Manor from Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...
. He became a member of Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
and a JP (Justice of the Peace) for Bedfordshire. After Wolsey's death he worked for his successor Thomas Cromwell in a number of important and lucrative roles, acting as a personal paymaster. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
he acquired a considerable number of other properties and in 1538 was one of the judges who sentenced the Abbot of Woburn to be hanged for refusing to sign the Oath of Supremacy
Oath of Supremacy
The Oath of Supremacy, originally imposed by King Henry VIII of England through the Act of Supremacy 1534, but repealed by his daughter, Queen Mary I of England and reinstated under Mary's sister, Queen Elizabeth I of England under the Act of Supremacy 1559, provided for any person taking public or...
. He was knighted in 1540.
In 1539 Gostwick was elected a knight of the shire (MP) for Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament from 1295 until 1885, when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.-History:...
and in 1540 was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire
High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. One sheriff was appointed for both counties from 1125 until the end of 1575, after which date separate sheriffs were appointed...
. He was re-elected in December 1544 but died before he could take his seat. At some point in his career as MP he made a direct attack on Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
, as a Lutheran in his views on the sacrament. The incident was dated as in 1544 by John Foxe
John Foxe
John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, , an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the...
, but scholars now suspect it was earlier, at the time of the debates on the Six Articles.
Gostwick died in 1545 and was buried in Willington church. He had married Joan and had a son William, who died shortly after his own death. The estates passed to his brother William.