Sir William Cornwallis of Brome (d. 1611)

Sir William Cornwallis of Brome (c. 1549– 13 November 1611) was an English courtier and politician.

He was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Cornwallis, Comptroller of the Household to Queen Mary, and his wife Anne Jerningham. He became a courtier at around age 21, spent heavily to secure position there, and married by 1578.

Despite a family connection to Thomas Cecil, Cornwallis made little enough progress at court, and twice withdrew without regard for the loss of royal favour. In 1597 he was elected Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel, with the support of Cecil. When James I came to the throne he fared no better, and retired from public life in 1605.

Cornwallis spent freely, and entertained the Queen at his house in Highgate. He was knighted, by 1594. He laid on a performance by his friend Ben Jonson there, in 1604, for James I. He employed the composer Thomas Watson and other musical and literary men.

Cornwallis died on 13 November 1611.

Cornwallis married, first, Lucy Neville, daughter of John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer and Lucy Somerset. After her death, he took as his second wife Jane Mewtas. The Cornwallis family lived at Brome Hall near Diss in Norfolk.

Of the daughters:

There are sources that give Thomas Cornwallis, Member of Parliament for Suffolk in 1625, as a son of Sir William by his first wife. The History of Parliament, on the other hand, gives his father as John Cornwallis of Earl Soham.Sir William Cornwallis, the essayist, was a nephew who is sometimes described as "the younger" to differentiate him from this William Cornwallis, who is often described as "the elder".

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