Christopher Hatton - Early Years

Early Years

Sir Christopher Hatton was the second son of William Hatton (d. 28 August 1546) of Holdenby, Northamptonshire, and his second wife, Alice Saunders, the daughter of Lawrence Saunders (d.1544) of Harrington, Northamptonshire, and his wife, Alice Brokesby, the daughter of Robert Brokesby (d. 28 March 1531) of Shoby, Leicestershire, and Alice Shirley. Through his mother, Alice Saunders, Sir Christopher Hatton was thus a descendant of King Henry II by his mistress, Ida de Tony. The date of the death of Hatton's mother is not known, nor whether she remarried after the death of William Hatton. On his father's side, it is said that the pedigree of Hatton is 'traced beyond records'. In the reign of Henry VII, Henry Hatton of Quisty Birches in Cheshire married Elizabeth, the sole heiress of William Holdenby of Holdenby, Northamptonshire. Their son, John Hatton, settled at Holdenby, and had three sons, of whom Sir Christopher Hatton's father, William, was the eldest. Sir Christopher Hatton is said to have had two brothers, Thomas and William, and a sister, Dorothy, who married firstly, John Newport (d.1566) of Hunningham, Warwickshire, and secondly, William Underhill (d.1570) of Idlicote, Warwickshire. In 1567 Sir Christopher Hatton's brother, Thomas, married John Newport's sister, Ursula Newport. However it appears that Hatton's two brothers both died relatively young, and neither left issue, and it was his sister Dorothy's son by John Newport who eventually became Hatton's heir.

Sir Christopher Hatton's early education is said to have been supervised by his maternal uncle, William Saunders (d.1582x4), but otherwise nothing is known of his life until he entered St. Mary's Hall, Oxford as a gentleman commoner at 15 or 16 years of age. Hatton left Oxford without taking a degree, and enrolled in the Inner Temple on 26 May 1560. No evidence exists as to whether he was called to the bar.

In 1561 he played the part of Master of the Game at a masque at the Inner Temple, and it was on a similar occasion that he first attracted the attention of Queen Elizabeth. Handsome and accomplished, and reputedly an excellent dancer, he came to court, according to Naunton, 'by the galliard, for he came thither as a private gentleman of the Inns of Court in a masque, and for his activity and person, which was tall and proportionable, taken into the Queen's favour'. In 1564 he became one of the Queen's gentlemen pensioners and a gentleman of the privy chamber, and in July 1572 was appointed captain of the yeomen of the guard. On 11 November 1577 he was appointed vice-chamberlain of the royal household and sworn of the Privy Council, and in the same month was knighted. In June 1578 the Queen formally granted him the Bishop of Ely's house in Ely Place, Holborn, despite the vigorous protests of the Bishop. These appointments, together with the valuable grants with which the Queen showered him during these early years, prompted rumours that he was her lover, a charge specifically made in 1584 by Mary, Queen of Scots. There was undoubtedly a close personal relationship. In correspondence, the Queen called him her "Lyddes", and he is said to have referred to himself in at least one letter as her "sheep".

Hatton represented Higham Ferrers in parliament in 1571, and from May 1572 onwards was a member for Northamptonshire. He was an active agent in parliament in the prosecutions of John Stubbs and William Parry. He was also one of those appointed to arrange a marriage between the Queen and Francois, Duke of Alençon, in 1581, although he urged the Queen not to marry Alencon.

According to one account Hatton had at one time assured Mary, Queen of Scots that he would fetch her to London if Queen Elizabeth died. Whatever the truth of this story, Hatton's loyalty to his sovereign appears to have been unquestioned, and on one memorable occasion in December 1584 he led 400 kneeling members of the House of Commons in a prayer for the Queen's safety.

Hatton was a member of the court which tried Anthony Babington in 1586, and was one of the commissioners who found Mary, Queen of Scots, guilty of treason in the following year. He vigorously denounced the Queen of Scots in parliament, and advised William Davison to forward the warrant for her execution to Fotheringhay.

In 1587 Hatton was made Lord Chancellor. Though he had no great knowledge of the law, he appears to have acted with sound sense and good judgment in his new position. He is said to have been a Roman Catholic in all but name, yet he treated religious questions in a moderate and tolerant way.

Hatton was a Knight of the Garter and chancellor of the University of Oxford. He is reported to have been very parsimonious, but he patronized men of letters, and among his friends was Edmund Spenser. He wrote the fourth act of a tragedy, Tancred and Gismund, and his death occasioned several panegyrics in both prose and verse.

Although there were contemporary rumours of a secret marriage, Hatton appears to have remained single, and his large and valuable estates descended to his nephew, Sir William Newport (1560-1597), who took the surname Hatton. When Sir William Hatton died without male issue in 1597, the estates passed to a kinsman, another Sir Christopher Hatton (d. 1619), whose son and successor, Christopher, was created Baron Hatton of Kirby.