Robert Shirley, 4th Baronet: Difference between revisions

Following the death of his uncle [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex|the Earl of Essex]] Shirley inherited half the Devereux property in England and Ireland. An ardent royalist, he confronted soldiers at the parliamentary garrison at Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1648. In 1650 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and his lands were sequestrated.<ref name="ODNB" /> His youth and his association with Essex led to his release and the restoration of his lands.<ref name=Dugdale>{{cite book |last1=Broadway |first1=Jan |title=William Dugdale |date=2011 |page=92}}</ref> He continued his political activity, becoming a focus of royalist opposition in the Midlands<ref>{{cite book |last1=Underdown |first1=David |title=Royalist Conspiracy in England 1649-1660 |date=1960 |page=144}}</ref>, while Staunton Harold became a refuge for displaced Laudian clerics.<ref name="Dugdale" /> In 1653 he began the rebuilding of [[Staunton Harold#Holy Trinity Chapel|Staunton Harold church]] as a symbol of his political and religious beliefs. He was again arrested and sent to the Tower. While there he became the royalists' financial agent and drew up proposals for royalist reorganization on the basis of complete identification of the royal cause with the Church of England. He died in the Tower, probably of smallpox, in November 1656<ref name="ODNB" /> and was buried at [[Breedon on the Hill]], Leicestershire the following month, the funeral sermon being preached by [[Gilbert Sheldon]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Broadway |first1=Jan |title=William Dugdale |date=2011 |page=102}}</ref>

 

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