Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/164

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popular version of the New Testament by Henri Lasserre, the author who made the fame of the holy well at Lourdes. The article was separately published (London, 1888, 8vo). Wright also contributed an introduction on ‘The Growth of the English Bible’ to the ‘Comprehensive Concordance to the Holy Scriptures’ (London, 1895, 8vo); edited ‘Bible Helps. The Illustrated Bible Treasury,’ London, 1896, 8vo; and wrote an introduction to Joseph Pollard's ‘Land of the Monuments,’ London, 1896, 8vo.

[Bible Society Monthly Report, September and October 1899; Presbyterian, 10 Aug. 1899 (with portrait); Missionary Herald of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, 2 Oct. 1899 (with portrait); British Weekly, 3 Aug. 1899; Times, 2 Aug. 1899.]

E. I. C.

WRIGHTSLAND, Lord. [See Craig, Sir Lewis, 1569–1622.]


WRIOTHESLEY, CHARLES (1508?–1562), herald and chronicler, said by Anstis to have been born on 8 May 1508 at his father's house outside Cripplegate, was fourth son of Sir Thomas Wriothesley (d. 1534) [q. v.], by his first wife, Joan, daughter of William Hall of Salisbury. Thomas Wriothesley, first earl of Southampton [q. v.], was his first cousin. At a very early age he adopted the profession of his father, his grandfather, and his uncle, and obtained a subordinate position in the herald's office. In 1522, when he was only fourteen, if Anstis's date of birth is correct, his property ‘in lands and fees’ was assessed at 38l. 6s. 8d. and in goods at 40l., and on 29 May 1525 he was appointed rouge croix pursuivant (Letters and Papers, iii. 2486, iv. 1377 [28]), and in 1529 he was admitted student of Gray's Inn. He speaks of Lord-chancellor Audley as his ‘master,’ and his cousin, the first earl of Southampton, bequeathed him 20l. on his death in 1550 (Trevelyan Papers, i. 213). He was created Windsor herald on Christmas day 1534, and retained this office until his death in his friend Camden's house in St. Sepulchre's on 25 Jan. 1561–2; he was buried with the usual heraldic pomp in the middle aisle of St. Sepulchre's Church on the 27th (Machyn, Diary, pp. 275, 389). He was apparently twice married; the maiden name of his first wife is said to have been Mallory, and the christian name of his second was Alice; he is not known to have left children.

Wriothesley was author of the chronicle now called ‘Wriothesley's Chronicle.’ The original manuscript is not known to be extant, the only existing copy being a transcript made early in the seventeenth century probably for Henry Wriothesley, third earl of Southampton [q. v.] It passed into the possession of the Percy family by the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, fourth earl of Southampton [q. v.], to Josceline Percy, eleventh earl of Northumberland, and belonged to Lord H. M. Percy in 1874, when it was edited by William Douglas Hamilton for the Camden Society (2 vols. 1875). The chronicle is anonymous, but internal evidence points conclusively to Wriothesley's authorship; in the main it may be regarded as a continuation of the chronicle of Richard Arnold [q. v.], whose sister was second wife of Sir John Wriothesley or Writh [q. v.], Charles Wriothesley's grandfather, and the reign of Henry VII and first eleven years of Henry VIII are little more than transcripts from Arnold. After that date Wriothesley becomes an independent authority of great value; in many cases, such as the trial of Anne Boleyn, he supplies new information; and in others, where his differs from generally received accounts, his testimony always merits careful consideration.

[An account of Wriothesley and a detailed examination of his chronicle are given in Hamilton's preface (Camden Soc.); see also Addit. MS. 33376, f. 27; Anstis's Order of the Garter, i. 373, II. xxiv; Letters and Papers of Henry VIII; Rymer's Fœdera, xv. 187, 423; Foster's Gray's Inn Reg.; and authorities cited.]

A. F. P.

WRIOTHESLEY, HENRY, third Earl of Southampton (1573–1624), Shakespeare's patron, was second son of Henry Wriothesley, second earl of Southampton, by his wife, Mary Browne, daughter of the first viscount Montague. He was born at his maternal grandfather's residence, Cowdray House, near Midhurst, on 6 Oct. 1573. His father died two days before his eighth birthday [see Wriothesley, Thomas, first Earl of Southampton]. The elder brother was already dead. Thus on 4 Oct. 1581 he became third earl of Southampton. His mother remained a widow during nearly the whole of his minority; on 2 May 1594 she married Sir Thomas Heneage, vice-chamberlain of Elizabeth's household; but he died within a year, and in 1598 she took a third husband, Sir William Hervey, who distinguished himself in military service in Ireland, and was created Lord Hervey by James I. As was customary, the young earl became on his father's death a royal ward, and Lord Burghley, the prime minister, acted as his guardian in his capacity of master of the court of wards. At the age of twelve, in the autumn of 1585, he