Edward Osborne

In May 1547, although another account makes the date three years later [citation needed], he was apprenticed to Sir William Hewit (or Hewett), clothworker, one of the principal merchants of London and lord mayor in 1559.

[DNB 1] According to a romantic legend, which in its main feature may be accepted, Hewett's infant daughter was dropped by a careless nurse from an apartment on London Bridge into the current below.

[citation needed] Pictorial representations of Osborne's feat are preserved at Clothworker's Hall and at Hornby Castle, Yorkshire, the seat of the Duke of Leeds.

[DNB 2] On the death of his father-in-law (1566/67), Osborne acted as executor jointly with his wife, and succeeded to Hewett's extensive business, his mansion in Philpot Lane, and to the greater part of his estates.

He made zealous efforts to procure a charter for the company, and before and after its incorporation he frequently petitioned the court for redress of injuries committed upon their fleet, trade, and factors by pirates and others.

[DNB 11] As a leading member of the Clothworker's Company, Osborne was frequently appointed by the crown, alone or with others, to adjudicate in commercial disputes, especially those relating to the cloth trade.

[citation needed] He died in 1591, and was buried at St Dionis Backchurch, where a monument existed to his memory until the destruction of the church in the Great Fire of London.

Soon after his marriage he appears to have lived in Sir William Hewett's house in Philpot Lane, as all his children were baptised in the parish church of St Dionis.