SIDNEY
,
Sir
HENRY
(
1529
-
1586
), of
Penshurst
,
Kent
,
president of Wales
from
1559
to his death,
is memorable both for the length of his administration and for the combination of competence, firmness, and sympathy that marked it. He established good relations with the
Welsh
gentry. His
interest in national culture and antiquities
appears in his zeal in the
preservation and collation of records
at
Ludlow
, used by
David
Powel
(q.v.)
(with his strong encouragement) to supplement the collections of
Humphrey
Llwyd
(q.v.)
as a basis for his
Historie of Cambria
,
1584
, whilst his care for the country's material welfare was demonstrated in his
experiments in developing the iron industry of south-east Wales
with the aid of imported
German
skilled labour (
c.
1560
), and in
extracting copper
from
Mynydd Parys
,
Anglesey
, by precipitation. He tried to patch up the quarrel between his brother-in-law the
earl of Leicester
and
Sir
Richard
Bulkeley
(q.v.)
over the
forest of Snowdon
, in which
Bulkeley
was supported by several
Caernarvonshire
squires of popish sympathies, while
Sidney
himself was at this time censured for slackness in proceeding against recusants — which is perhaps why his rule was remembered with affection even by religious and political opponents like
Hugh
Owen
of
Plas-du
(q.v.)
. He was absent on
diplomatic service
in
1562
and in
Ireland
for most of
1565-71
and
1575-8
, but was kept in touch by the
vice-presidents
who deputized for him, the arrangement working smoothly under
William
Gerard
(
1562
) but less well under
bishop
Whitgift
; and the efficiency of
Sidney
's administration certainly suffered from these interruptions and cross-purposes. While on duty he lived mainly at
Ludlow castle
, to which (as also to that of
Montgomery
) he made many structural improvements, and where he brought up his family. He had far greater satisfaction in his work here than in
Ireland
, as appears in his tribute ‘
A better country to govern Europe holdeth not
,’ and (symbolically) in the injunction, carried out when he died and was buried at
Penshurst
, that his heart should be buried at
Ludlow
.
The connection with
Wales
was maintained by his family. His heir
(
Sir
)
PHILIP
SIDNEY
(
1554
-
1586
) was presented at 12 to the
lay rectory
of
Whitford, Flints.
, worth £60 a year. His second son and ultimate heir
ROBERT
SIDNEY
(
1563
-
1626
), later
earl of Leicester
, m. (
23 Sept. 1584
)
Barbara
Gamage
, heiress of the
Glamorgan
estate of
Coyty
, and became
Member of Parliament
(
1585
and
1592
) and
Justice of the Peace
(
1625
) for the county; and the estate was inherited by
Leicester
's descendants, of whom his grandson, the well-known historical figure,
ALGERNON
SIDNEY
(
1622
-
1683
) was elected on
17 July 1646
, to replace the
Royalist
member for
Cardiff
(
slain
at
Edgehill
), and sat on several
Glamorgan county committees
. Finally
Sir
Henry
's daughter
MARY
SIDNEY
(
1561
-
1621
) m.
Henry
Herbert
,
2nd earl of Pembroke
(q.v.)
.
Bibliography:
-
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
Collins
,
Letters and Memorials of State, in the
reigns of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James, King
Charles the First, part of the reign of King Charles the
Second, and Oliver's usurpation. Written and collected by
Sir Henry Sydney … Sir Philip Sydney, and his brother Sir
Robert Sydney … Robert, the second Earl of Leicester …
Philip, Lord Viscount Lisle … and of his brother Colonel
Algernon Sydney … Together with letters of the other
ministers of state, with whom they held a correspondence
…
, London, 1746
, i, 1-5, 95-6, 213-4, 273-9;
-
J. M. Traherne
,
Stradling Correspondence, a series of
letters [addressed to Sir E. S.] written in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth with notices of the family of Stradling of
St. Donat's Castle, Co. Glamorgan
, London, 1840
, 11-22;
-
C. A. J. Skeel
,
The Council in the Marches of Wales a study
in local government during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centurie
, Cambridge, 1904
, 85-113;
-
Strype
,
The life and acts of … John Whitgift …
Archbishop of Canterbury … with a large Appendix of …
papers, etc.
, 1718
, ii;
-
G. T. Clark
,
Limbus Patrum Morganiae et
Glamorganiae
, 1886
, 391;
-
Bradney
,
A History of Monmouthshire
, iv, 80;
-
Calendar of Wynn (of Gwydir) Papers,
1515–1690, in the National Library of Wales and
elsewhere
, 1926
, 471;
-
Firth and Rait
,
Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum,
1642–1660
, 1911
(index);
-
D. J. Davies
,
The Economic History of South Wales prior to
1800
, 1933
, 74-5;
-
W. R. Williams
,
The History of the Parliamentary
Representation of Wales
, 1895
, 96, 106;
-
Y Cymmrodor
, xiii, 119-63;
-
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1948
, 10;
-
A. H. Dodd
,
Studies in Stuart Wales
, Cardiff,
1952
(index);
-
P. H. Williams
, ‘The Council in the Marches in the reign of Elizabeth’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Oxford).
Author:
Emeritus Professor Arthur Herbert Dodd, M.A., (1891-1975), Bangor
