Sir Charles Le Grosse (1596 – 1650) of Crostwight Hall near North Walsham in Norfolk, England, was a politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653.
Le Grosse was the son of Sir Thomas Le Grosse / Le Gros (died 1613) of Crostwight and of Sloley, both in Norfolk, by his wife Elizabeth Cornwallis, a daughter of Sir Charles Cornwallis, of Brome, Suffolk, MP.[1] The Le Grosse family probably descended from William Gross of Norfolk, a land-holder mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.[1] [2] The chest tomb of Oliver le Gros (died 1435) survives in St Bartholomew's Church, Sloley,[3] displaying the arms of Le Gross: Quarterly argent and azure, on a bend sable three martlets or,[4] which also survive on the "Crostwight Flagon", a silver wine flagon made in 1585 by Peterson of Norwich, presented to Crostwight Church probably by Thomas Le Gross, now in Norwich Castle Museum.[5]
He was knighted on 6 December 1616[6] and served as Sheriff of Norfolk for 1626–27. In 1628 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Orford in Suffolk, and sat until 1629 when King Charles I decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.[7] In April 1640, Le Grosse was re-elected MP for Orford in the Short Parliament and was re-elected MP for Orford for the Long Parliament in November 1640, retaining his seat until 1653.[7] In 1637, together with Dr. Thomas Lushington, he was instrumental in persuading the physician and philosopher Thomas Browne, to re-locate to Norwich.[8] In 1658 Browne dedicated his Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial to Thomas Le Grosse, his eldest son. Le Grosse died before 31 May 1660.
He married Muriel Knyvet, a daughter of Sir Thomas Knyvet (died 1605) by his wife Elizabeth, and by the marriage settlement he acquired a moiety of the manor of Eccles, which allowed him to hold courts there.[9] By his wife he had two sons and six daughters,[10] including:
The poet Ralph Knevet dedicated the following poem to him:[11]
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