- Henry Spelman
The eldest son of Henry Spelman (d. - 1581), of
Congham ,Norfolk , and the grandson of Sir John Spelman (1495-1544), Sir Henry Spelman (bornCongham c.1562 and died 1641) was an Englishantiquary , noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.Educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge in 1583, he later married Eleanor l'Estrange in 1590. Spelman entered parliament as member forCastle Rising in 1597, and in 1604 was high sheriff of his county. In 1612, he settled inLondon near his friend SirRobert Bruce Cotton . In 1617, he served on a commission to inquire into disputed Irish estates, and later took part into legal inquiries into the exactions levied on behalf of the Crown in the civil and ecclesiastical courts. His third son (also named) Henry Spelman had gone to the Jamestown Colony in 1609, and was killed in an Indian attack in 1623. Henry Spelman continued to rise in prestige served as a member of theParliament of England forWorcester in 1625. In 1627, he became treasurer of the Guiana Company, and he was also an energetic member of the council forNew England . His general services to the state were recognized in 1636 by a gift of money, and two years later by the offer of the mastership of Sutton's Hospital, Charterhouse. He died in London in October 1641, and was buried inWestminster Abbey . His later years had been spent in the house of his son-in-law, Sir Ralph Whitfield, and he was survived by his sons Thomas Spelman ofKecoughtan, Virginia , SirJohn Spelman , and Francis Spelman ofTruro ,Cornwall ,England .His histories include "Concilia Ecclesiastica Orbis Britannici" and "Glossarium Archaiologicum" (completed by
William Dugdale ). His "Reliquiae Spelmannianae" was edited byEdmund Gibson in 1698.References
*Notable Names Database (2005). " [http://www.nndb.com/people/830/000094548/ Henry Spelman] ". Retrieved
February 12 2006 .
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