William Paston

Abt 1528 - 1610  (~ 82 years)

• Name	William Paston  [1]
  Born	Abt 1528  [2]
  Gender	Male
  Died	20 Oct 1610  [3, 4]
  Buried	St. Nicholas, North Walsham, Norfolk, England   [3]
  Person ID	I21120	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	7 Sep 2020

  
  

  Father	Erasmus Paston,   b. Bef 1508,   d. Bef 6 Nov 1540  (Age < 32 years)
  Mother	Mary Wyndham,   b. Abt 1508,   d. 1 Jan 1597  (Age ~ 89 years)
  Married	Aft 22 Oct 1521  [1]
  Family ID	F13040	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Frances Clere,   b. 1531,   d. 1610  (Age 79 years)
  Married	5 May 1551	St. Margaret's, Paston, Norfolk, England   [2, 5]
  Children	1. Anne Paston,   b. Bef 16 Jul 1553,   d. 1637  (Age > 83 years)
  Last Modified	3 Sep 2018
  Family ID	F13039	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1565-66. "He played little part in national affairs but took a prominent role in the government and political life of his native county and was known as a careful administrator and a 'just and painstaking magistrate' [...] A supporter of Edmund Freake, bishop of Norwich (1575–84), Paston was involved in the bitter conflict between the bishop and the puritans for control of the chancellorship of the diocese in 1578. He was described by Bishop Scrambler as an 'observer of law' which has been taken to mean that his religious views were either conformist Church of England or impartial (Smith, 214). In 1597 he moved to the new house which his uncle, Sir Clement Paston, had built at Oxnead. Known for his liberality, hospitality and benefactions, Paston is chiefly remembered for the founding and endowment of North Walsham grammar school (the Paston School), in 1606." [Oxford DNB, citation details below.] As he lived through her entire reign, presumably he was aware that queen Elizabeth was his third cousin, both of them being great-great grandchildren of London mayor Geoffrey Boleyn and his wife Anne Hoo.

  
  

• Sources

  [S142] Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Salt Lake City, 2013. [S2165] Brad Verity, Father of Gertrude Paston (d. 1605), Wife of Sir William Reade of Osterley Park. 9 Nov 2015. [S76] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004-ongoing. [S2165] Brad Verity, Father of Gertrude Paston (d. 1605), Wife of Sir William Reade of Osterley Park. 9 Nov 2015., year only. [S76] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004-ongoing., date only.