Person:William Semple (43)

William Semple

• The Scots Peerage by Paul, James

Page 537, 538 – William, who, along with his father, was sued for deforcement on 14 March 1525-26, and is also mentioned in the said respite, dated 17 July 1526 by King James V. for the slaughter of Cornelius de Mathetema, a Dutchman, at the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. He was Sheriff-Depute of Renfrewshire in 1540. He was one of the sureties for John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, when charged with attempting to restore popery in 1563, and one of the executors of his father, Lord Sempill. He had the lands of Third-part of Auchinames, and died in Paisley on 3 December 1576. In his will, dated 31 August 1576, he directed that his body should be buried in the College Kirk of Castle Sempill. Margaret Maxwell, his spouse, and Gabriel Maxwell of Stanelie were his executors. He probably died without issue, for, in the marriage-contract of John Sempill and Marie Livingstone, dated 3 March 1564, Robert, Lord Sempill, and his son, the Master of Sempill, undertook to infeft the spouses in the lands of Thirdpart how soon it shall come into their hands by decease of William Sempill, who held it heritably, to him and his heirs-male gotten of his body, whom failing, to return to the said Lord Sempill and his heirs, and these lands were afterwards claimed by the said Marie Livingstone and her son.

• A history of the county of Renfrew from the earliest times (1905) by Metcalf, William M.

Page 136, 137 - On June 12, 1527, Parliament assembled in Edinburgh. Lord Semple had already been concerned with the Earl of Eglinton, Sir Neil Montgomery, and Stirling of Keir, in the death of the laird of Lochleven, and on the 21st of the month the Lords Temporal thought it expedient that Semple and his associates should be indicted for treason. While Parliament was sitting, Semple whether aware of this resolution or not, entered Edinburgh at the head of a strong force. With his men he set upon on Corenlius de Mathetema, a Dutchman, near the Tolbooth, and put him to death. The affair created a great stir, but on the 17th of the following month the King issued a letter of respite, protecting Semple and his followers against all that might follow from this “treasonable slaughter” for nineteen years. The letter gives the names of Semple’s accomplices. In all they number 586.

• Records of the Parliaments of Scotland

03 Nov 1544 – Edinburgh - In the parliament of the most excellent princess and our lady the lady Mary, Queen of Scots, held in Edinburgh on 7 November in the year of the Lord 1544, by the magnificent prince James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault etc., guardian of the lady queen and governor of the realm, with the three estates of the realm present.

The governor being present

Lords Present – William Sempill, lord

and others

Source http://www.rps.ac.uk/

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Paul, James Balfour. The Scots peerage: founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's ‘Peerage of Scotland’ containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom, with armorial illustrations. (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904-1914).

   Page 537, 538 – William, who, along with his father, was sued for deforcement on 14 March 1525-26, and is also mentioned in the said respite, dated 17 July 1526 by King James V. for the slaughter of Cornelius de Mathetema, a Dutchman, at the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. He was Sheriff-Depute of Renfrewshire in 1540. He was one of the sureties for John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, when charged with attempting to restore popery in 1563, and one of the executors of his father, Lord Sempill. He had the lands of Thirdpart of Auchinames, and died in Paisley on 3 December 1576. In his will, dated 31 August 1576, he directed that his body should be buried in the College Kirk of Castle Sempill. Margaret Maxwell, his spouse, and Gabriel Maxwell of Stanelie were his executors. He probably died without issue, for, in the marriage-contract of John Sempill and Marie Livingstone, dated 3 March 1564, Robert, Lord Sempill, and his son, the Master of Sempill, undertook to infeft the spouses in the lands of Thirdpart how soon it shall come into their hands by decease of William Sempill, who held it heritably, to him and his heirs-male gotten of his body, whom failing, to return to the said Lord Sempill and his heirs, and these lands were afterwards claimed by the said Marie Livingstone and her son.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Metcalfe, William Musham. A history of the county of Renfrew from the earliest times: with a map of the county. (Paisley [Scotland]: A. Gardner, 1905).

   Page 136, 137 - On June 12, 1527, Parliament assembled in Edinburgh. Lord Semple had already been concerned with the Earl of Eglinton, Sir Neil Montgomery, and Stirling of Keir, in the death of the laird of Lochleven, and on the 21st of the month the Lords Temporal thought it expedient that Semple and his associates should be indicted for treason. While Parliament was sitting, Semple whether aware of this resolution or not, entered Edinburgh at the head of a strong force. With his men he set upon on Corenlius de Mathetema, a Dutchman, near the Tolbooth, and put him to death. The affair created a great stir, but on the 17th of the following month the King issued a letter of respite, protecting Semple and his followers against all that might follow from this “treasonable slaughter” for nineteen years. The letter gives the names of Semple’s accomplices. In all they number 586.

   Note: Wikipedia's List of parliaments of Scotland shows a parliament on 12 June 1526 in Edinburgh, but none on 12 June 1527. It is likely that the date was originally given as 12 June in 13 James V, which would make it June 1526, but someone might have added 13 to the start of James' reign (Sep 1513) and come up with June 1527 by mistake.