John Husee

John Husee
Arms of Husee (or Hussey): Barry of six ermine and gules
Father	John Husee
Mother	Elizabeth Holt
Died	November 1548 Calais

John Husee (died November 1548) (alias Hussey) was a London merchant, and the business agent in England of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (d.1542), during Lisle's absence abroad whilst serving as Governor of Calais during the years 1533 to 1540. Lord Lisle's correspondence was seized by the state when he was arrested in May 1540 for treason and heresy, and as a result 515 letters written by Husee between 1533 and 1540 to Lord and Lady Lisle survive, mainly now preserved amongst the State Papers held at the National Archives. They were transcribed into modern English and in 1981 published, together with all the other Lisle Papers, by Muriel St Clare Byrne in her six-volume work "The Lisle Letters".

Husee was the son of John Husee, a Southampton merchant, by his wife Elizabeth Holt, a daughter and co-heiress of John Holt of Hampshire. He had a brother who lived in London, but otherwise little is known of his family.

Husee the elder traded principally in wine, and in 1500 he and several of his fellow merchants in Southampton were accused of corruption in the handling of the customs. The damage to his career was not lasting. He served as Sheriff of Southampton for a term in 1511–12. Shortly thereafter he moved to London, where in January 1516 he was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Vintners, and by November 1517 was one of the junior wardens of the Company. In 1525 he was elected as one of the Chamberlains of the City of London. In 1528 he became Master of the Vintners. He was living in 1539, but nothing further is known of him.

A magnificent embroidered hearse-cloth (or coffin cover) given by John Husee senior to the Vintners Company on 14 February 1539 is still held by the Company. It was used to cover the coffins of deceased prominent members, and was used for that purpose until 1931. It is made from gold and purple cloth and is decorated with biblical scenes, with vines and the arms of Husee (Barry of six ermine and gules) and the Vintner's Company (Sable, a chevron between three wine-tuns argent) in alternate corners. St Martin, the Patron Saint of Vintners, is shown at each end, dividing his cloak with the beggar and as Bishop of Tours giving alms to a cripple. On the long sides are shown various images of Death personified as a skeleton holding a coffin. His armorials are shown on the hearse-cloth as Barry of six ermine and gules, which are the arms of the ancient family of Husee established at Harting in Sussex in the 12th century.