Edward Littleton (died 1610)

Sir Edward Littleton (ca. 1555 – 1610) was a Staffordshire landowner, politician and rebel from the extended Littleton/Lyttelton family. A supporter of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, he was the victim of a notorious electoral fraud in 1597 and a participant in the Essex Rebellion, although he escaped with his life. In the reign of James I he was elected a member of the parliament of England.

Littleton's father was Edward Littleton (died 1574) of Pillaton Hall, near Penkridge. His mother was Alice Cockayne (1535–1602), the daughter of Francis Cockayne of Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire.

The Littletons had been based at Pillaton since the early years of the century. Littleton's grandfather, Sir Edward Littleton, had skilfully and aggressively expanded the estates of his family during the turbulent years of the English Reformation and had represented Staffordshire in five parliaments. His father had consolidated the family's holdings but had been content mainly to live the life of a country gentleman.

Littleton succeeded to the family estates in 1574, on the death of his father. He had married Margaret Devereux only recently, the marriage settlement dated 23 March 1573. Littleton inherited 16,000 acres in the Penkridge area and another 600 elsewhere in Staffordshire, 1,400 acres in Warwickshire, 900 acres in Shropshire and 940 acres in Worcestershire. His mother survived until 1602 and her jointure, a third of the estate, was, he later claimed, a major drain on his wealth, as was the property held in tail by his siblings. His mother's jointure was certainly large: it included all of the Warwickshire and Shropshire estates, as well as lands in Staffordhire. However, the death of his father-in-law, Sir William Devereux, in 1579 probably eased matters considerably, as Devereux left considerable legacies to his daughters. Certainly Littleton was sufficiently prominent and wealthy to serve two terms as High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1581 and 1593. His subsidy assessment rose from only £5 in 1576 to £20 in 1590 and he could afford to settle an allowance of £100 on his eldest son, also Edward, at his marriage in 1599. By any standards, he was actually a large and wealthy landowner, of considerable regional importance.

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