{{short description|English landowner and Member of Parliament (c. 1537–1598)}} {{for|his father|Henry Knyvet (died 1547)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Henry Knyvet | birth_date = 1537 | death_date = 1598 | occupation = Member of Parliament | known_for = Charlton House | father = | relatives = {{unbulleted list|Thomas Knyvett (grandfather)|Henry Knyvet (father)|Thomas Knyvet (brother)|Catherine Howard (daughter)|Elizabeth Clinton (daughter)|Anthony Knivet (son)}} }} Sir '''Henry Knyvet''' (c. 1537–1598) of Charlton Park, Wiltshire, was an English landowner who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wootton Bassett in 1571 and 1572, for Malmesbury in 1584 and 1586, Wootton Bassett again in 1589 and Malmesbury again in 1593 and 1597. He began the building of Charlton House in Charlton Park.
==Early life and family==
Knyvet was the eldest son of Henry Knyvet and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Christopher Pickering of Killington, Cumbria, and widow of Francis Weston. The younger Knyvet was born around 1537. Knyvet was the grandson of Thomas Knyvett (d. 1512) and the brother of Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet. He succeeded his father in 1546.<ref name="HOP">{{HistoryofParliament |1558 |first=S. T. |last=Bindoff |first2= |last2=E. L. C. M. |title=KNYVET, Henry (c.1537-98), of Charlton, Wilts. |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/knyvet-henry-1537-98 |accessdate=16 June 2025}}</ref>
==Career== thumb|Charlton House, near Malmesbury, Wiltshire Knyvet held a number of public offices and was appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire (1578–79) and a deputy-lieutenant of Wiltshire. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Wootton Bassett in 1571 and 1572, for Malmesbury in 1584 and 1586, Wootton Bassett again in 1589 and finally Malmesbury again in 1593 and 1597.<ref name=HOP/> He was knighted in September 1574.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaw |first=William Arthur |url=https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft/knightsofengland02shawuoft/page/n85/mode/2up?view=theater&q=knyvet |title=The Knights of England. A complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland |last2=Burtchaell |first2=George Dames |date=1906 |publisher=London Sherratt and Hughes |others=Robarts - University of Toronto |pages=76}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2025}}
Knyvet first married Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of James Stumpe of Malmesbury,<ref name=HOP/> with whom he had two sons and four daughters. She brought him the manor of Charlton Park, where he commenced the building of Charlton House.
Knyvet's second wife was Mary, the daughter of John Sydenham of Brinton, Somerset, and the widow of John Fitz of Fitzford, Devon.<ref name=HOP/>
==Death and legacy== Knyvet died in 1598, and was buried on 25 July 1598.<ref name=HOP/> He was succeeded by his surviving three daughters, Catherine (who inherited Charlton Park and eventually became Countess of Suffolk), Elizabeth, and Frances. Catherine extended and enlarged the house,<ref>{{Cite book |author-last1=Baggs |author-first1=A. P. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol14/pp36-50 |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 14 |author-last2=Freeman |author-first2=Jane |author-last3=Stevenson |author-first3=Janet H. |date=1991 |publisher=University of London |editor-last=Crowley |editor-first=D. A. |series=Victoria County History |pages=36–50 |chapter=Parishes: Charlton |access-date=16 June 2025 |via=British History Online}}</ref> which is today a Grade I listed building.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1022216|desc=Charlton Park House|access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>
Knyvet also had an illegitimate son, Anthony Knyvet, a pirate, slave, and slave trader.<ref name="hitchcock">{{Cite journal |last=Hitchcock |first=Richard |date=2004-04-01 |title=Samuel Purchas as Editor: A Case Study: Anthony Knyvett's Journal |journal=The Modern Language Review |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=301–312 |doi=10.2307/3738747 |jstor=3738747}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knyvet, Henry}} Category:1530s births Category:1598 deaths Category:English MPs 1571 Category:English MPs 1572–1583 Category:English MPs 1584–1585 Category:English MPs 1586–1587 Category:English MPs 1589 Category:English MPs 1593 Category:English MPs 1597–1598 Category:Knights Bachelor Category:High sheriffs of Wiltshire