DRAYCOT, Henry, of Derby; Horsley, Derbys and Broxtowe, Notts.

It is likely but not certain that the 1571 Member for East Retford was the above, rather than a namesake who was an official in Ireland from 1545 to his death in May or June 1572. The careers of the two are difficult to disentangle, but it is clear that the Irish official could not also have been the escheator, and that the latter would have had more opportunity of being returned to Parliament, either through the influence of Edward, 3rd Earl of Rutland or that of George, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Whoever he was, the 1571 MP made no known contribution to the business of the House.2LP Hen. VIII, xx(2), p. 55; CSP Ire. 1509-73, p. 473; Cal. Irish Fiants Eliz. (11th Rep. Dep. Keeper Irish Recs.), 35, 148; C3/53/37, 169/8; HMC Rutland, iv. 363.

Henry Draycot of Derbyshire was a litigious and brutal man, described by his own mother as a ‘riotous malapert misordered person’ for attempting to deprive her of a life interest in a house at Loscoe. The last reference found to him concerns a lawsuit of 1573.3St. Ch. 4/4/38, 42, 44; 5/D6/15, D10/38; C3/14/6, 53/37, 169/8.