Christopher Heydon
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Sir Christopher Heydon |
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| Member of the England Parliament for Norfolk |
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In office 1588–1589 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 August 1561 Surrey, England |
| Died | 1 January 1623 (aged 61) |
| Nationality | English |
| Alma mater | Peterhouse, Cambridge |
Sir Christopher Heydon (14 August 1561 – 1 January 1623) was an English soldier, Member of Parliament, and writer on astrology.
Born in Surrey, Heydon was the eldest son of Sir William Heydon (1540–1594) of Baconsthorpe, Norfolk, and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir William Woodhouse of Hickling, Norfolk. The family was powerful in Norfolk affairs, owning many manors and living at Baconsthorpe Castle, a large country house in North Norfolk.
Heydon was educated at Gresham's School, Holt and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he knew the young Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and after graduating BA in 1579 travelled widely on the continent.
Deep in debt, Heydon's father Sir William had mortgaged Baconsthorpe, and needed the Queen's protection from his creditors. In 1590 he tried to sell much of his land, but his son challenged him, as the estates were entailed to him. Sir William then threatened to demolish Baconsthorpe Castle, but his son got an Order from the Privy Council, which condemned the plan as unnatural. The dispute dragged on for years, and when Sir William died in 1594, he left his estate to his widow, but Heydon then went to law against her. Lady Heydon appealed to Queen Elizabeth, and the dispute was settled on her orders by the Lord Keeper. Heydon was left with inherited debts of £11,000, as well as his own of over £3,000 – huge sums in the 16th century.
In 1586, while he was still a young man, Heydon stood for the Norfolk county constituency of the Parliament of England. Although defeated, the Privy Council of England ordered a fresh poll, which Heydon won. The House of Commons challenged the Council's constitutional right to interfere in elections, and the second election was quashed. Heydon stood again for parliament in 1588, again successfully.
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