General Notes

REFN: 965AN
REFN: P965
The details in this biography come from the History of Parliament, a biogr
aphical dictionary of Members of the House of Commons.
First son of Sir Christopher Danby of Thorpe Perrow by Margaret, dau. a
nd event. coheiress of Thomas, 5th Lord Scrope of Masham. Married by 153
1, Elizabeth, dau. of Richard Neville, 2nd Lord Latimer. Suc. family 17 M
ay 1518. Kntd. 25 May 1533. J.p. Yorks. (W. Riding) 1538-45, (N. Riding) 1
538-45, 1558/59-d.; commr. musters (N. Riding) 1539, benevolence (N. Ridin
g) 1544/45, relief (N. Riding) 1550; sheriff, Yorks. 1545/6.
For one so well endowed and connected Christopher Danby was to live a rela
tively obscure life. Among the earlier references to him are those of h
is securing exemption from serving on juries or as sheriff in Nov 1532, a
nd of his being released from the shrievalty when he was pricked in 1543 a
fter nominations in 1538 and 1539; he did, however, serve as a juror in 15
37, join the bench in 1538 and other commissions thereafter, and become sh
eriff in 1545. His knighthood presents a not dissimilar pattern, for it w
as only after being fined for not having been knighted that he was dubb
ed at the coronation of Anne Boleyn.
Danby was momentarily involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace. On 15 Oct 15
36 the lords at Pontefract castle reported that he and his brother-in-l
aw Sir John Neville, 3rd Lord Latimer, had been taken by the rebels; bo
th men managed to extricate themselves and Danby, in the Duke of Norfolk
's phrase, showed himself a true subject by acting as a grand juror in t
he trials of his less fortunate colleagues, including his cousin Lord Darc
y. His own survival of the crisis was marked by his entry upon local admin
istration and by his association with the defence of Berwick. Some years l
ater he was listed among the few Yorkshire knights fit to serve against t
he Scots, and in 1544 he was charged with raising 50 or 100 men for the Sc
ottish campaign.
In 1538 Danby engaged in a scheme to exchange his lands in Kent and Suffol
k, part of the Scrope inheritance, with the King and Cromwell for Yorkshi
re lands. In May of that year Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, ask
ed Cromwell to ensure that, in view of the intended marriage between his d
aughter Mary and Danby's son Thomas, the new lands should descend to Thom
as Danby as the old were to have done. In the event nothing seems to ha
ve come of the proposed exchange. It seems that Danby himself might have b
een ennobled, for Sir William Paget named him as one of the men whom Hen
ry VIII chose on his deathbed to be ‘advanced’: if so, it would probably h
ave been because of his connexion with Queen Catherine Parr, who had be
en the wife of the 3rd Lord Latimer. Nothing has been discovered about Dan
by's attitude towards the religious changes of these years but in vi
ew of his Catholicism in later life he is likely to have been more at ea
se under Mary than under Edward VI. It was then that he had his only spe
ll in Parliament as junior knight for Yorkshire with Sir William Babthorp
e, although his part in the proceedings has left no trace.
After 1558 Danby was again a dissentient. Listed among the justices who we
re accounted ‘no favourers of religion’ in 1564, in Nov of the following y
ear he was in some trouble with both the council in the north and the Pri
vy Council. His younger son Christopher was, in the words of Sir Thomas Ga
rgrave, ‘one of the chief rebels for religion’ in 1569, as was a son-in-la
w, Sir John Neville of Liversedge, Yorkshire. Danby made his will on 27 M
ar 1568 and died on 14 Jun 1571. His son and heir Sir Thomas Danby was th
en over 40 years old.
Sources:
J. T. Cliffe, Yorks. Gentry
H. H. Leonard, ‘Knights and knighthood in Tudor England (London Univ. Ph.
D. thesis, 1970)
R. B. Smith, Land and Politics
[sir christopher danby.ged]
High Sheriff of Yorkshire
The details in this biography come from the History of