William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester

William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester KB JP (c. 1532 – 24 November 1598)^[1] was an English nobleman, the son of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester and his first wife, Elizabeth Willoughby.^[2] His maternal grandfather was Robert Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby de Broke.

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Winchester KB JP
Arms of Paulet, Marquess of Winchester: Sable, three swords pilewise points in base proper pomels and hilts or
Lord High Steward for the funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots
In office 31 August 1587 – 1 September 1587
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	Sir Christopher Hatton
Preceded by	The Earl of Shrewsbury for the trial of the Duke of Norfolk
Succeeded by	The Earl of Derby for the trial of the Earl of Arundel and Surrey
Lord Lieutenant of Dorset
In office 1580–?
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	Sir Thomas Bromley
Preceded by	The Lord Mountjoy
Succeeded by	The Earl of Bedford
In office 1 March 1586 – 24 November 1598
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	See Sir Thomas Bromley (until 1587) Sir Christopher Hatton (1587–1591) Lord Commissioners of the Great Seal: (1591–1592) The Lord Burghley The Lord Hunsdon The Lord Cobham The Lord Buckhurst Sir Gilbert Gerard Sir John Puckering (1592–1596) (as Lord Keeper) The Viscount Ellesmere (from 1596)
Preceded by	The Earl of Bedford
Succeeded by	The Viscount Howard of Bindon
Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire
In office before 1585 – 24 November 1598 Serving with The Earl of Sussex (3 July 1585 – 14 December 1593) The Lord Mountjoy (from 4 August 1595) The Lord Hunsdon (from 8 September 1603)
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	See Sir Thomas Bromley (until 1587) Sir Christopher Hatton (1587–1591) Lord Commissioners of the Great Seal: (1591–1592) The Lord Burghley The Lord Hunsdon The Lord Cobham The Lord Buckhurst Sir Gilbert Gerard Sir John Puckering (1592–1596) (as Lord Keeper) The Viscount Ellesmere (from 1596)
Preceded by	Unknown
Succeeded by	The Lord Mountjoy The Lord Hunsdon
High Sheriff of Hampshire
In office 1560–1561
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	Sir Nicholas Bacon
Preceded by	Thomas Pace
Succeeded by	William Uvedale
Member of Parliament for Dorset
In office 1571–1571 Serving with John Horsey
Monarch	Elizabeth I
Chancellor	Sir Nicholas Bacon
Preceded by	Thomas Howard
Succeeded by	John Stroke
Constituency	Dorset
Personal details
Born	William Paulet c. 1532
Died	24 November 1598(1598-11-24) (aged 65–66)
Resting place	St. Mary's Church, Basing, Hampshire 51.271389°N 1.046667°W / 51.271389; -1.046667
Nationality	English
Spouse	Anne Howard
Domestic partner	Jane Lambert (mistress)
Children	With Anne Howard: William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester Lady Anne Dennis Lady Katherine Wroughton Lady Elizabeth Hoby With Jane Lambert: Sir William Paulet Sir John Paulet Sir Hercules Paulet Hector Paulet Susannah Warnfford
Parent(s)	John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester (father) Elizabeth Willougby (mother)
3rd Marquess of Winchester
Tenure	1576–1598
Predecessor	John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester
Successor	William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester
Other titles	3rd Earl of Wiltshire 3rd Baron St John

He was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Mary I on 30 November 1553.^[3]

Career

The offices he held during his career included:^[4][5]

• Justice of the Peace, Hampshire from c.1559
• Sheriff of Hampshire 1560–61
• Justice of the Peace, Dorset from 1564
• Commissioner for the Musters, Dorset 1569
• High Steward, Dorchester by 1570
• Joint Lord Lieutenant of Dorset 1569 and 1585/6-98
• Member of Parliament for Dorset 1571
• Joint Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1585–98: During the Spanish Armada crisis in 1588 he commanded 4747 men of the Hampshire Trained Bands ready to defend Portsmouth^[6]
• Lord High Steward for the funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1 August 1587
• Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes, Diocese of Winchester 1597

Paulet was summoned to Parliament on 5 May 1572 in his father's Barony of St John.^[2] He succeeded his father as 3rd Marquess of Winchester on 4 November 1576. During October 1586, he was one of the judges at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, later acting as Lord High Steward at her funeral on 1 August 1587.

He is known as the author of The Lord Marquess Idleness, a remarkable and most ingenious acrostic of six Latin verses.^[7] It was published in 1586 and 1587.^[8]

Marriage and issue

Between 20 June 1544 and 10 February 1547/1548^[9] he married Anne or Agnes^[10] Howard, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham and his first wife, Katherine Broughton and had issue:^[11][12][13]

• William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester, died 4 February 1629, married Lucy Cecil, daughter of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
• Anne Paulet, born 1552, married Sir Thomas Denys (modern spelling: Dennis), of Holcombe Burnell, Devon; grandparents of the prodigy Denys Rolle
• Katherine Paulet, married Sir Giles Wroughton
• Elizabeth Paulet, married Sir Edward Hoby^[13]

The marriage was not a happy one, and the couple were only reconciled, on one occasion, by Elizabeth I's intervention.^[10]

Paulet also had children with his recognised mistress Jane Lambert, who later married the much younger Sir Gerrard Fleetwood:^[14][15]

• Sir William Paulet, died 1628, lawyer, London, later of Edington, Wiltshire. High Sheriff of Wiltshire 1613, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Seymour
• Sir John Paulet, lawyer, Winchester, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Stump
• Sir Hercules Paulet, born 1574, married Bridgett, daughter of Sir Henry Gifford
• Hector Paulet, born 1578, married Joan Butler
• Susan or Susanna Paulet, married firstly Thomas Kirkby and secondly Launcelott Warnfford

Death

He died on 24 November 1598 and was buried at Basing, Hampshire.^[11] His widow, Anne Paulet, died on 18 November 1601.^[11] The date of Jane Lambert's death is not recorded.