William Cordell

Possible portrait of Sir William Cordell, by Cornelius de Zeeu, dated 1565, St John's College, Oxford

The Right Honourable Sir William Cordell
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office 1558–1559
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Preceded by	Clement Higham
Succeeded by	Thomas Gargrave
Personal details
Born	1522
Died	1581
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Mary Clopton
Relations	no children
Residence	Melford Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk
Profession	Barrister

Sir William Cordell (1522–1581) was Solicitor General and Master of the Rolls during the reign of Queen Mary I and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Following the dissolution of the Monasteries, [Queen Mary of England] granted the manor of Long Melford to Cordell in 1554. The charter can be seen at Melford Hall today.^[1] Knighted in 1558, a member of Lincoln's Inn 1538, called to the Bar 1544, bencher 1553, reader 1554, a founding member of the Russia Company, received a grant of arms for his father in 1548 and one for himself (quartering Webb) in 1549, Solicitor General to Mary I 1553, Master of the Rolls and a member of the privy council 1557, sat in five parliaments between 1545 and 1571, Speaker of the House of Commons 1558, executor to Queen Mary I, Cardinal Pole, and Archbishop Parker, founded a hospital; the Holy Trinity at Long Melford,^[2] first visitor and supporter of the foundation of St John's College, Oxford,

By his will it is found that he left charitable bequests to Cambridge and Oxford including £20 to be distributed among the poor scholars of the universities ‘unto suche as be moste towardes in vertewe and learninge’.

Cordell married Mary Clopton (d. 1584), the daughter of Richard Clopton of Kentwell Hall in Long Melford, Suffolk, by his first wife, Margaret Bozun, daughter of Sir Richard Bozun of Barrowby, Lincolnshire, and Thomasine Dene, the daughter and heiress of James Dene.^[3] There were no issue of the marriage.^[4]

Notes

References

• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G., ed. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. p. 521. ISBN 1449966373. 
• J. H. Baker, ‘Cordell, Sir William (1522-1581)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 11 May 2005
• T. C., Original date of publication: 1887, © Oxford University Press 2004–5
• Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. 25, pp. 1–47 (1920)
• STAFFORDSHIRE RECORD OFFICE D615/D 45 (1)1, STAFFORDSHIRE RECORD OFFICE D615/D 45 (1) 2, STAFFORDSHIRE RECORD OFFICE D615/D 45 (1) 3, STAFFORDSHIRE RECORD OFFICE D615/D 45 (1) 5, SRO D615/D48(8-24)10
• (Glover and Flower's Visitations).
• The 1567 will of HENRY SAVILE, Esq., of Lupset and Barrowby, will 5 Jan. 1568-9, proved 16 May 1569 (Reg. Test., xviii, 11 York, and Sheffield 2, P.C.C.); Inq. p. m. 7 Sept., 12 Eliz. (1570).

Masters of the Rolls
Taylor Cromwell Hales Southwell Beaumont Hare Cordell Gerard Ellesmere Kinloss Phelips Julius Caesar Digges Charles Caesar Colepeper Lenthall Grimston Churchill Trevor Jekyll Verney Fortescue Strange Clarke Sewell Kenyon Arden Grant Plumer Gifford Lyndhurst Leach Cottenham Langdale Romilly Jessel Brett Lindley Alverstone Smith Collins Cozens-Hardy Swinfen Eady Sterndale Hanworth Wright Greene Evershed Denning Donaldson Bingham Woolf Phillips Clarke Neuberger Dyson Etherton

Speakers of the House of Commons
House of Commons of England	14th century Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford Savage 15th century Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Doreward Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Flower Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington, Sr. Tyrell Russell Hunt Bowes Tyrell Burley W. Tresham Burley W. Tresham Say Popham I W. Tresham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock T. Tresham Green Strangeways Say Alington Jr. Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield 16th century Dudley Englefield Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave T. Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham II Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton 17th century Croke Phelips R. Crewe Richardson T. Crewe H. Finch J. Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Lenthall Rous (Barebones Parliament) Lenthall Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute, Long & Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Lenthall Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Seymour Gregory W. Williams Trevor Powle Trevor Foley Littleton 18th century Harley Smith
House of Commons of Great Britain	18th century Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington
House of Commons of the United Kingdom	19th century Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully 20th century Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd 21st century Martin Bercow