Family and Education

b. by 1523, 1st s. of Robert Peyton I of Isleham by Frances, da. and h. of Francis Haselden of Guilden Morden, Cambs. and Chesterford, Essex. educ. Jesus, Camb. 1535-6. m. by 1550, Elizabeth, da. of Richard Rich^†, 1st Baron Rich, 3s. inc. John^† 3da. suc. fa. 1 Aug. 1550.2

Offices Held

Commr. relief, Cambs. and Cambridge 1550, goods of churches and fraternities, Cambridge 1553, loan, Cambs. 1562; sheriff, Cambs. and Hunts. 1553-4, 1567-8, 1586-7; j.p. Cambs. 1558/59-d., q. by 1569, I.o. Ely 1564; dep. lt. Cambs. 1569.3

Biography

Robert Peyton inherited large estates in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk and, as the son-in-law of Baron Rich and brother-in-law of Roger North, was eminently fitted to serve a turn as knight of the shire. He was an active local official but his career was otherwise undistinguished, not to say obscure. Nothing has come to light about his life between his education and his succeeding his father. His marriage in or before 1550 might have looked like the prelude to a political career, but Peyton was to rise no higher than the shrievalty. What, if anything, he did when the succession to the throne was contested so near his home we do not know, although his appointment as Queen Mary’s first sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire implies his loyalty to the new regime. It was during this year of office that five prisoners escaped from Cambridge castle gaol, an escape for which Peyton was legally answerable and in respect of which he obtained a pardon in July 1554. He was described as ‘conformable’ in religion in 1564 and his will, made a week before his death on 19 Oct. 1590, has a long religious preamble.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: D. F. Coros

Notes

• 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
• 2. Date of birth estimated from age at fa.’s i.p.m., C142/93/9. Vis. Cambs. (Harl. Soc. xli), 4; PCC 74 Drury; CPR, 1549-51, p. 189.
• 3. CPR, 1550-3, p. 395; 1553, pp. 351, 417; 1554-5, p. 109; 1558-60, p. 31; 1560-3, p. 435; 1563-6, pp. 20, 29, 41; 1569-72, p. 215; Osborn Coll. Yale Univ. Lib. 71.6.41.
• 4. CPR, 1553-4, p. 128; Cam. Misc. ix(3), 25; PCC 74 Drury; C142/228/76.