Family and Education

b. c.1558, s. of Thomas Burdett of Bramcote by Bridget, da. of Thomas Curzon of Croxhall, Derbys. educ. ?Oxf. BA 1576. m. c.1584, Mary, da. of Thomas Wilson, at least 1s. 6da. suc. fa. 1591.

Offices Held

J.p.q. Warws. by 1601, sheriff 1601-2.

Biography

Bramcote is eight miles from Tamworth, and it is likely that Burdett obtained his parliamentary seat in 1601 through local influence. Several of his ancestors had sat in Parliament in the fifteenth century. His grandfather, also Robert, had sat for Leicester, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. His father had held, in addition to Bramcote, the manors of Seckington and Packwood, also in Warwickshire, and various messuages within the county; and to these Burdett added property including the manor of Thorpe Constantine in Staffordshire, and the capital messuage of Mythe on the borders of Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Much of his inheritance had been settled, at his marriage, on his wife for her life, with remainder to him and his heirs male. At his death, Burdett was heavily in debt, possibly through the financial misfortunes of his brother-in-law Nicholas Wilson, which Burdett and another brother-in-law George Belgrave, were invited by the Privy Council to investigate in November 1601.

In his will, dated 24 Mar. 1603, Burdett asked for burial ‘without chargeable pomp or solemnity’, and set aside a property to meet his debts, lamenting that he could not provide more for his children. He appointed his wife sole executrix, and nominated three overseers to assist her. Burdett died 26 Mar. 1603, leaving as heir his son Thomas, aged 17, who later became a baronet. On the same day, Burdett was party to an indenture conveying the lease of Packwood manor to Thomas Spencer, a Warwickshire gentleman, for a peppercorn rent in lieu of a sum of money.

Vis. Warws. (Harl. Soc. xii), 101; Kimber and Johnson, Baronetage, i. 147 seq; C142/228/41, 281/76, 294/77; APC, xxxii. 349; PCC 43 Bolein.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.E.M.

Notes