Francis Englefield

His grandfather, Sir Thomas Englefield (1455–1514), was an adviser to Henry VIII during the King's youth, and Speaker of the House of Commons in 1497 and 1510.

[3] Francis, who succeeded his father in 1537, was too young to have taken any part in the opposition to the abolition of the Roman Catholic jurisdiction and the dissolution of the monasteries; and he acquiesced in these measures to the extent of taking the oath of royal supremacy, serving as High Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxfordshire in 1546–1547.

Their numbers swelled the privy council and sadly impaired its efficiency; but Mary resisted the various attempts to get rid of them because she liked staunch friends, and regarded them as a salutary check upon the abler but less scrupulous members who had served Edward VI as well as herself.

[4][5] He was an ardent supporter of the Marian persecutions, was present at Hooper's trial, sought Ascham's ruin, and naturally lost his office and his seat on the privy council at Elizabeth's succession.

He had been outlawed in 1564 and his estates sequestered, but his correspondence with the pope and the King of Spain on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots brought an Act of Attainder against Englefield in 1585.