William Uvedale

Sir William Uvedale (1455 – 1524) was an English soldier and courtier. Biography Origins William Uvedale was the son and heir of Sir Thomas Uvedale of Wickham, Hampshire, and of Titsey, Surrey, High Sheriff of Surrey and Sussex in 1437 and 1464. The family name appears from the oldest deeds to have been D'Ovedale or D'Ouvedale. Other variations of the name are Uvedall, Uvedail, Vuedall, Udall, Woodall, and Woodhall. A writer in a sixteenth-century manuscript, desirous of identifying the Uvedale family with that of Wodehall, Cumberland, says, "Thei call the name Woddall, and some call it Udall, and some Wodhall". Life William was born in 1455, and on 10 May 1483 was appointed to the command of Portchester Castle and town. On 5 June of the same year he was summoned to receive knighthood at the coronation of Edward V, which, though fixed for 22 June, was never solemnised. In 1484 he was attainted of treason by Richard III. On 19 January 1485 he obtained a pardon; but that he remained hostile to Richard III's government may perhaps be inferred from the fact that Henry VII, shortly after his accession, appointed him an Esquire of the Body. On 29 November 1489 Uvedale was created Knight of the Bath. He was High Sheriff of Hampshire in 1480, 1487, and 1493. In 1488 he was a commissioner of musters for the county, doubtless for the war against France. He was frequently on the commissions of the peace for Hampshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Welsh marches, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire, and on 7 March 1510 was nominated a member of the Council of Wales. On 3 July 1512 he was appointed one of a commission of six to inquire into insurrections in Wales. In 1517 he was nominated a commissioner to report the cases of inclosure in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire. Of the returns of this commission all that remains is a transcript of selected cases preserved among the Lansdowne manuscripts in the British Library, which were printed among the transactions of the Royal Historical Society for 1893. Sir William Uvedale received several marks of favour from Henry VIII. In 1522, when war was declared against France, he was again a commissioner of musters for Hampshire, and in the following year he was appointed a commissioner of subsidy for Gloucestershire. He died on 2 January 1524, his wife Anne, daughter and coheiress of William Sidney, having predeceased him in 1512.