William Fitzwilliam was appointed Treasurer of the Household in 1525 , a post which gave him an '' ex officio '' seat on the evolving Privy council . He was appointed Captain of in 1524 and maintained a connection with Calais for the rest of his life , being largely responsible for the Calais Act of 1536 ; he also played a significant part in defusing religious unrest in Calais in the later 1530s . He served as a member of parliament for Surrey from 1529 until his elevation to the peerage as '' ' Earl of Southampton ' '' in 1537 . FitzWilliam acted as " enforcer " for King Henry VIII in the fall of the King 's wives , Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard , the Pilgrimage of Grace , and the Exeter Conspiracy . In 1539 , as Admiral , he conveyed King Henry 's future fourth wife , Anne of Cleves , from Calais , and on first meeting her , wrote letters in her praise to the King , ' considering it was then no time to dispraise her , ... the matter being so far passed . ' In Autumn 1538 William and the Bishop of Ely went to question Margaret Pole , Countess of Salisbury . William then went onto hold Margaret Pole as his prisoner until May 1539 . From 1540 , William FitzWilliam was a capable Lord Privy Seal until his death in 1542 , but he failed to address serious structural faults at the Duchy of Lancaster and the Admiralty administration , probably because with several offices he was overworked – a serious fault in the Tudor system . As regional magnate , he eliminated factional strife in Surrey . The Earl of Southampton was appointed Lieutenant and Captain-General in the North in 1542 , to command an expedition to Scotland , but he was a sick man who had to be conveyed to Newcastle upon Tyne in a litter . Nevertheless , he died in October only three days after his arrival there . FitzWilliam was apparently buried in Newcastle , for although under his will , a chapel was to be built for his tomb at the parish church in Midhurst , Sussex , no tomb was erected there . Having no legitimate issue , his peerage became extinct . Upon his death , Cowdray House , originally purchased by FitzWilliam from Sir Henry Owen in 1529 , was inherited by his younger half-brother , Sir Anthony Browne
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton