NORREYS (formerly ROSE), Sir Francis (d. 1669), of Weston-on-the-Green, Oxon.

Although Norreys’ career in Parliament was brief and apparently undistinguished, he was representative of a significant category of gentlemen who not only participated to a somewhat surprising degree in local and national government in the 1650s but also comfortably weathered the Restoration. While the latter is readily explicable in this case, the degree of Norreys’s commitment to earlier regimes remains difficult to gauge. However, it seems likely that, despite or perhaps because of his unpromising start in life, an essentially accommodating and amiable personality had some part to play. If so, his public and private persona was in stark contrast to that of his quarrelsome, violent and depressive father.

Contemporary understanding was that Francis was one of two ‘specious’ sons whom Francis Norreys, 2nd Baron Norreys, had with the daughter of his ‘keeper’.18Bodl. Rawl. B.78, f. 159v. Their mother, Sarah Rose, appears to have had kin in Weston-on-the-Green, but by 1613, when Lord Norreys settled several manors on Francis, she was the wife of Samuel Hayward, of whom there is no trace in the parish register; the fate of her other son is similarly unknown.19VCH Berks. iii. 322n; iv. 128, 400; Weston-on-the-Green par. reg. Estranged from his wife and their only daughter Elizabeth, Norreys seems to have made his son heir to much of his unentailed property, securing his future as a substantial landed gentleman. When the recently-created earl of Berkshire committed suicide in January 1622, Francis the younger was probably just entering his teens. It is unclear whether he adopted the name Norreys at this point or when he attained his majority. His education is obscure, but may conceivably have included foreign travel, like his father, or military service abroad in the tradition of his grandfather, William Norris (d. 1579), who died in Ireland, and great-uncles.20CP; CSP Dom. 1619-23, pp. 342, 346, 365. At any rate Francis was prepared for a good marriage. This was contracted in 1628 to the eldest daughter of an active Worcestershire magistrate, with whom he was to remain on close terms, being named by Sir John Rous† as the overseer of his will of 23 January 1645.21VCH Berks. iv. 128; Vis. Worcs. 1634, 82; Worcs. RO, 1/1; PROB11/194, f. 43. Following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather Henry Norreys†, 1st Baron Norreys (d. 1601), Francis took his place among the Oxfordshire and Berkshire élite.22CP.

Knighted at Abingdon in August 1633, in November 1635 Norreys began a year as sheriff of Oxfordshire, proving an adequate if not over-zealous collector of Ship Money.23Shaw, Knights of Eng. ii. 202; List of Sheriffs (L. and I. ix), 50; CSP Dom. 1635-6, p. 342; 1636-7, p. 291; 1637-8, p. 232. He was a subsidy commissioner in 1640.24SR. In 1642 assessments he was the highest-rated taxpayer in the parishes of Weston, Chesterton and South Hinksey.25Oxon. and North Berks. Protestation Returns (Oxon. Rec. Soc. lix), 112, 116, 284. Hinksey, just outside Oxford, and Yattendon, the property between Reading and Newbury which he also owned, were both especially vulnerable during the civil wars. However, although placed on the Oxfordshire commission of the peace in February 1642, and named a commissioner of array by the king at York on 4 July, he seems to have escaped direct involvement in the ensuing conflict.26C231/5, p. 508; Northants. RO, FH133. He was confirmed or reinstated as a justice in December 1646 during the reconstruction of local government following the surrender of Oxford to Parliament.27C231/6, p. 70. By at least 1650 he was one of the quorum, and in 1654 and 1655 he was the first-named in correspondence addressed to the commission by the council and the protector.28The Names of the Justices (1650), 44; CSP Dom. 1654, p. 67; 1655, p. 94, 132. Meanwhile he had served as an assessment commissioner from March 1648 and a militia commissioner in December 1648.29A. and O.

When he was returned to Parliament in the late summer of 1656 as one of four members for Oxfordshire, Norreys, like fellow magistrate Robert Jenkinson*, probably seemed to the protectorate government a reliable local representative who might effectively complement Richard Croke* and Miles Fleetwood*, who had closer ties to the regime. However, he was also in contact with men of different political sympathies. His son and eventual heir Edward Norreys† had matriculated in December 1650 from Queen’s College, Oxford, where royalist sentiment notably survived.30Al. Ox. In late December 1655 Edward set off on a continental tour under the tutorship of Joseph Williamson, a recent graduate of Queen’s and protégé of its master, Gerald Langbaine. The party included sons of Jane Whorwood, who had schemed to effect Charles I’s escape from captivity, and of James Butler, 1st marquess of Ormond. Practical arrangements occasioned frequent contact between Sir Francis and fellows of Queen’s (especially the future archbishop of York, Thomas Lamplugh), and correspondence between them and Williamson. By February 1656 the travellers were in Paris, and although they subsequently moved to the Huguenot stronghold of Saumur, there was plenty of opportunity here and then at Blois for Edward Norreys to mix with exiled Englishmen. The primary concern of his affectionate and generous parents was evidently to provide the best education for their son, and there is no indication of seditious intent, but it is also clear that Sir Francis was held in esteem by this circle, and his participation in Parliament viewed with equanimity.31CSP Dom. 1655-6, pp. 31, 45, 49, 56, 171, 182, 188, 217, 227, 281, 289, 298, 316, 322, 329, 372, 378; 1656-7, pp. 23, 40, 92, 111, 130, 139, 142, 144, 154, 179, 236-7, 242, 257, 324, 359, 390; 1657-8, pp. 10, 19, 46, 64, 147, 167-8, 190, 201, 232, 243, 276, 328, 359; ‘Thomas Lamplugh’, ‘Joseph Williamson’, ‘Jane Whorwood’, Oxford DNB.

Norreys arrived in London in advance of the opening of the session on 17 September.32CSP Dom. 1656-7, p. 111. By 10 October 1656, when he despatched one of his regular letters to Williamson, he was at his ‘old lodging’, conveniently situated in Old Palace Yard.33CSP Dom. 1656-7, p. 130. However, he did not appear in the Journal until 21 October, when he was added to the committee investigating arrears excise collection, and his visible contribution to proceedings was modest.34CJ vii. 443a. After two more nominations to financial committees – improving revenue from papists’ estates (22 Oct.) and the excise of ale and beer (25 Oct.) – Norreys disappeared from the record until 9 February, when he and Robert Jenkinson were among Members deputed to deal with a petition from the drainage engineer Sir Cornelius Vermuyden.35CJ vii. 444a, 445b, 488b. Nevertheless, he was in London for part of this time – probably around 1 December and certainly on 7 and 8 January 1657 – so may still have attended the Commons.36CSP Dom. 1656-7, pp. 179, 236-7. He received six further committee nominations between mid-March and May. The majority were on relatively uncontentious or private matters: the settlement of disputes over the estate of the merchant and financier Sir Peter Vanlore, latterly established in Berkshire (17 Mar.; with Jenkinson and Croke); the establishment of trustees to buy impropriations for the maintenance of the ministry (31 Mar., with Jenkinson); the curbing of building round London (9 May); and the dispute between the Levant Company and Sir Sackville Crowe (added, 21 May).37CJ vii. 505b, 515b, 532a, 536a. But there are indications of his involvement in more politically-charged issues. He was listed among MPs who voted for the kingship on 25 March and was named to delegations of Members to communicate the view of the House to the protector (27 Mar.; unlike the more loquacious Jenkinson) and to receive his scruples about the Humble Petition and Advice (7 Apr.).38The Narrative of the Late Parliament (1658), 22 (E.935.5); CJ vii. 514a, 521b. The nomination on 21 May was his last recorded parliamentary contribution, but despite the serious illness of two of his younger sons that spring, according to his agent there he was in the capital until the adjournment on 26 June, leaving the city that day as the protector was re-installed.39CSP Dom. 1656-7, pp. 390; 1657-8, p. 19.

There is no direct evidence that Norreys took his seat again when Parliament reconvened in January 1658, but in view of his earlier pattern, his presence is possible. He also put in a respectable attendance at sessions of the peace that year.40Bodl. Rolls Oxon. 61. In the election on 29 December he stood for the second Oxfordshire seat against Henry Cary*, 4th viscount Falkland, who had lost the first seat to Jenkinson by 13 votes and was considered the stronger candidate.41Mercurius Politicus no. 548 (30 Dec. 1658-6 Jan. 1659), 135 (E.761.2). A fortnight later Norreys was paired with Jenkinson in published results, but when Parliament assembled a double return was reported.42Mercurius Politicus no. 549 (6-13 Jan. 1659), 139 (E.761.4); CJ vii. 596b. It is possible that there had been a misunderstanding. According to Thomas Burton*, on 1 February Richard Croke, elected this time for Oxford with his brother Unton Croke II*, currently sheriff, explained to the Commons in the latter’s absence through illness that ‘it proved to be a doubtful case; no malice or design in it’.43CJ vii. 596b; Burton’s Diary iii. 24. But it is also possible that the sheriff was reluctant to return the viscount, who had a reputation for instability and dubious loyalty, and saw the older, steadier Norreys as preferable.44Supra, ‘Henry Cary’. A royalist sympathiser like Norreys’ friend Lamplugh at Queen’s could also fear the outcome of the Commons’ deliberations.45CSP Dom. 1658-9, p. 351-2. On 7 February the decision went in Falkland’s favour, and Norreys’ parliamentary career ended.46CJ vii. 601a.

Unlike Falkland, Norreys saw out the 1650s quietly. In February 1660 he was individually confirmed as an assessment commissioner.47CJ vii. 843b. The extent of his commitment to Prayer Book liturgy and covert royalism became more widely apparent only after the Restoration. In 1660 he was nominated as a knight of the intended order of the Royal Oak.48W.R. Williams, The Parliamentary Hist. of the County of Oxford (1899), 61. The following year William Annand, the future dean of Edinburgh, dedicated to Norreys, who had supported him (in episcopalian circles) at university, his defence of traditional sacraments and order, Fides Catholica.49W. Annand, Fides Catholica (1661), sig. A2-A3; ‘William Annand’, Oxford DNB. Norreys continued as a justice of the peace and assessment commissioner in Oxfordshire, where he still counted among the wealthiest inhabitants, with a putative income of £1,500 a year in 1660 and 20 hearths in the 1665 tax return.50C231/7, p. 374; Williams, Parlty. Hist. Oxon. 61; Hearth Tax Returns Oxon. 1665, 197. His connexion with Williamson, who became secretary of state, was doubtless beneficial in advancing his family.51CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 383. His will, drawn up in 1663 and 1668, indicates that he committed a total of over £6,000 to the portions of his five daughters, and that his five sons had already been provided for.52PROB11/330/519. Since his eldest son John (b. c.1630) apparently suffered from some incapacity, when Norreys died on 11 July 1669 Edward was his principal heir; the latter called on Lamplugh to conduct the funeral.53CSP Dom. 1668-9, p. 408. Knighted in 1662, Sir Edward Norreys represented the county and the city of Oxford in numerous Parliaments after 1675.54HP Commons 1660-1690.