William Pope, 1st Earl of Downe

He was a nephew of Sir Thomas Pope and he inherited his extensive estates in Oxfordshire.

[1] In 1601 he was appointed High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, and he was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of James VI and I as King of England in 1603.

In 1618, Pope completed the reconstruction of the family seat at Wroxton Abbey in the Jacobean style at a cost of £6,000.

The house was subsequently visited by King James I as a guest of Pope.

He was buried in Wroxton church, where he shares an elaborate memorial with his wife.