John Shelton (courtier)

For other uses, see John Shelton.

Sir John Shelton (b. in or before 1503, d. 1558) was the eldest son of Sir John Shelton and Anne Boleyn, the aunt of Queen Anne Boleyn. John's sister, Mary Shelton, who married Sir John Heveningham, was possibly the mistress of Henry VIII of England during 1535.

He may have been High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk as early as 1523 whe he was still aged only twenty years old. John seems to have been overshadowed by his father's great wealth. Sir John senior had seen his satr rise with the Boleyn family, when he and Lady Shelton acquired the custody of Princess Mary at Hatfield House. But when his father died in 1539, 'a man of great possessions' Sir John preferred the quietude of the country, since his father's lawyers, William Coningsby and Sir Nicholas Hare were prosecuted under the Statute of Uses for a fraudulent misrepresentation of the will. Shelton joined the Norfolk bench in 1543 after the Howard faction's fall from power. The Wiltshire Sheltons were sympathetic to the reformed religion. He served on the Boulogne campaign which ended in the triumphant parade of the King in the captured port town. And when the old King finally passed, he was knighted at Edward VI's coronation in 1547. In 1550 he was appointed Commisssioner for parish relief of the poor.

On the accession of Queen Mary in 1553 he elevated to the Privy Council in part at least by pledging to purchase an annuity for £60 expressing adherence to the Catholic regime. He attended the Council regularly until March 1555, when the Catholic purges and heretical burnings were at their height. Therefore he was elected to Mary's third parliament as a knight of the shire for Norfolk, which was preceded by the approval for his appointment as High Sheriff for both Norfolk and Suffolk in 1554. Shelton was ever the practical politician, refusing to quit the parliamentary session before its dissolution by the Sovereign. He was retired from public affairs of state when in March 1556 the Council wrote to thank him for his reports from Norfolk. They told him to report to the 2nd Earl of Sussex.

On 12 February 1558 Sir John made his will. When he finally died only two days before the queen on 15 November 1558. One is thought by his IQM to have disposed of all his estates, for when he passed away he was left in possession on the Manor of Carrow. He may have sold his lands, or had them repossessed by the Romanist monarchy.

Family

He was succeeded by his son, Ralph who married a daughter of Sir William Woodhouse, a distant cousin of Sir John's wife.

He married Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley. Their children were:

• Sir Ralph Shelton, who married a daughter of Sir William Woodhouse.
• Anne Shelton
• Alice Shelton
• Mary Shelton
• Thomas Shelton

External links

• Shelton, Sir John (1509-1558), History of Parliament
• Woodhouse, Sir William (by 1517-1564), History of Parliament Retrieved 22 March 2013