Later that year he was appointed High Sheriff of Staffordshire to replace the outgoing Sir Walter Aston and again in 1579.
He was a staunch Protestant and greatly trusted by Queen Elizabeth[citation needed] and by 1577 was appointed the Custos Rotulorum of Staffordshire.
[1] He was one of the gentlemen out of Staffordshire appointed to attend Mary, Queen of Scots in her remove to Fotheringay Castle.
He was succeeded by his son and heir Francis Trentham, who became High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1592.
His daughter, Elizabeth Trentham, married in 1591 Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England.