Edward (de) Birmingham 1497-1538
According to Sir William Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire Edward was the last de Birmingham to hold the lordship of Birmingham. He was cheated out of it by John Dudley, who would later try to place Lady Jane Grey, his own daughter-in-law, on the throne, an offence for which he was later found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
Dudley had asked to buy Birmingham from Edward. However, proud of his inheritance, Edward declined. Dudley was not a man to take no for answer though and devised a scheme to obtain Birmingham by dishonest means. A trap was laid for Edward and he was framed for highway robbery by Dudley's thugs. He was thrown in the Tower of London, tried and found guilty. However, Dudley being King Edward VI's closest adviser offered to get Edward a pardon from the King. The offer had a string attached, however, and in order to get the pardon, Dudley had to hand Birmingham over to Dudley. Preferring poverty to death Edward did as Dudley demanded and in 1527 retired to obscurity, living on a token £40 a year offered as compensation. Edward had died by 1538 although his widow, Elizabeth, continued to live in Birmingham after his death.
Read more about this topic: De Birmingham Family
Famous quotes containing the word edward:
“Some have too much, yet still do crave;
I little have, and seek no more.
They are but poor, though much they have,
And I am rich with little store.
They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.”
—Sir Edward Dyer (c. 1540–1607)