Family and Education

b. by 1582, s. of Miles Lyndsey of Dent, Yorks. and St. Sepulchre’s, London and Katherine, da. and h. of William Ingledue of ?St. Margaret’s, Westminster.1 educ. G. Inn 1612.2 m. 25 Aug. 1608, Mary, da. of John Nightingale of London, 1s. 7da.3 suc. fa. c.1582.4 d. 29 Mar. 1630.5 sig. Ed[ward] Lyndsey.

Offices Held

Rcvr.-gen. of earls of Dorset by 1603-d.6

Commr. sewers, Suss. 1617, 1624-5,7 j.p. 1625-d.,8 commr. billeting 1626, martial law 1626-7,9 Forced Loan 1627,10 oyer and terminer 1627.11

Biography

Lyndsey was born in St. Sepulchre’s parish, London, though his baptism record no longer survives. His father Miles had migrated there from Dent, in Yorkshire’s West Riding. The family were presumably of humble stock, as Lyndsey acquired a coat of arms only in 1608. Miles died intestate in around 1582, leaving at least two sons, and Lyndsey probably received only a modest inheritance.12 Accordingly, he entered the service of Thomas Sackville†, Lord Buckhurst, later 1st earl of Dorset, who by 1603 had appointed him his receiver-general of rents and other revenues. Lyndsey remained a central figure in the Sackville household until his death, and was suitably rewarded. In 1607 Dorset bequeathed him the generous sum of £40. The 2nd earl (Robert Sackville*) valued him more highly still, and in 1609 provided him with an annuity of £20.13

In July 1615 the 3rd earl of Dorset tackled his escalating burden of debt by conveying a large part of his estate to trustees, including Lyndsey, (Sir) George Rivers* and Richard Amherst*, who were to sell properties or otherwise raise funds to satisfy the earl’s creditors. This complex and daunting task was to occupy Lyndsey for the rest of his life. Dorset failed to rein in his expenditure, and periodically recovered lands from the trustees, thereby undermining their efforts. One loan of about £14,000, taken out in 1618 and scheduled for repayment over five years, was renegotiated in 1621 with barely any reduction in the sum owing to the lender. By early 1624 Lyndsey’s instructions as a trustee had been modified four times to accommodate the earl’s changing needs, and he was also involved in the financial affairs of Dorset’s brother and heir, Sir Edward Sackville*.14 There were, however, some benefits to this role, as Lyndsey had begun to buy property from Dorset even before the first trust deal. Moreover, with an insider’s knowledge of which estates were coming onto the market, he was able to acquire one of the earl’s Kent manors almost immediately after the trustees sold it in 1618.15

Lyndsey was probably already leasing land at Hailsham, Sussex by 1617, which may explain his appointment in that year to a sewers commission within the county. During the next decade he accumulated several hundred acres of land in the Hailsham district, some of it from his master, while in 1621 he purchased a country seat at nearby Buxted. In this latter transaction he again seems to have taken advantage of the previous owner’s financial difficulties, though the Buxted estate came to him encumbered with certain annuities which Lyndsey was unable to cancel, despite bringing a suit in Chancery.16 The 3rd earl of Dorset died in March 1624, shortly after making a will in which he bequeathed Lyndsey a fresh annuity of £40 for life. The process of debt redemption continued unabated, though in April of that year the trustees took the precaution of obtaining royal protection against legal action by the remaining creditors. Intended as a temporary measure, this grant soon became a permanent feature of Lyndsey’s life, as the Privy Council’s initial recommendation of one year’s respite proved wholly inadequate.17

In January 1626 Lyndsey was elected to Parliament at Camelford. Since his fellow Sackville servant, Evan Edwards, also secured a seat there in 1628, it appears that he relied on the backing of the 4th earl of Dorset. Although Dorset lacked direct ties with the borough, one of his long-standing colleagues on the Middlesex bench was Sir Robert Killigrew*, who owned property near Camelford. On 17 Mar. Lyndsey was nominated to a committee to scrutinize a private bill concerning Dorset’s cousin, Sir Thomas Neville. He was also added to the committee dealing with the Bave and Sotherne naturalization bill, and attended at least one meeting, though it is unclear why he took an interest in this measure.18

By this time Lyndsey was increasingly treating Buxted as his main home, and although he never became an active member of the Sussex bench he was appointed to several important local commissions in the later 1620s. He and his fellow trustees made slow but steady progress with settling the Dorset debts, for example reducing the burden by £8,000 between mid-1628 and mid-1629.19 In return, Lyndsey continued to receive marks of favour from the 4th earl and the dowager countess, including further leases of lands in Sussex. He drew up his will on 10 July 1627, affirming his belief that he would be numbered in heaven with God’s elect, and recording his gratitude to Dorset, his ‘most noble and especial good lord’. He now owned several houses in London besides his own home at Salisbury Court, but it was the income generated by his Sussex properties which funded most of his bequests. His six unmarried daughters were each to receive £200, though most were also left the residue of leases. His personal effects included a set of apostle spoons presented to him by his friend John Williams, the king’s goldsmith. Lyndsey died in London in March 1630, and was buried at St. Bride’s, Fleet Street on the same day as he was named to a Sussex sewers commission. His only son was still a few months under-age, but Lyndsey’s widow was able to acquire his wardship. None of Lyndsey’s immediate descendants sat in Parliament.20

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Paul Hunneyball

Notes

• 1. GL, ms 9168/14, f. 11v; Vis. Suss. (Harl. Soc. liii), 201; PROB 11/38, f. 174.
• 2. GI Admiss.
• 3. Vis. Suss. 201.
• 4. GL, ms 9168/14, f. 11v.
• 5. C142/456/67.
• 6. Cent. Kent. Stud. U269 A1/1, A2/1-2; PROB 11/157, f. 256.
• 7. C181/2, f. 290; 181/3, ff. 134, 167.
• 8. C231/4, f. 176; C66/2527.
• 9. APC, 1626, pp. 221, 224; CSP Dom. 1627-8, p. 461.
• 10. T. Rymer, Foedera, viii. pt. 2, p. 144.
• 11. C181/4, f. 47.
• 12. PROB 11/157, f. 256r-v; Vis. Suss. 201; GL, ms 9168/14, f. 11v.
• 13. PROB 11/113, ff. 16, 184v.
• 14. PROB 11/143, ff. 208-9v; C54/2389/36; 54/2432/3; 54/2631/35.
• 15. C54/2242/40; 54/2360/22-3.
• 16. C54/2376/7; 54/2474/26; 54/2600/34; PROB 11/157, ff. 256-7; C2/Jas.I/L16/4.
• 17. PROB 11/143, f. 210v; C66/2340/18; 66/2384/7; 66/2438/23; 66/2462/7; 66/2519/33.
• 18. OR; PROB 11/143, f. 207v; C66/2420/3; Procs. 1626, ii. 305, 385; HLRO, Lords main pprs. 27 Apr. 1626.
• 19. C54/2583/6; A. Fletcher, Suss. 1600-60, p. 24; CSP Dom. 1628-9, p. 586.
• 20. PROB 11/157, ff. 255v-7v; C142/456/67; GL, ms 6537, unfol.; C181/4, f. 47; WARD 9/163, f. 25.