Oliver St John, 1st Baron St John of Bletso


Oliver St John of Bletsoe, 1st Baron St John of Bletso was an English peer. He was the son of Sir John St John of Bletsoe and Spelsbury and his first wife Margaret, the daughter of Sir William Waldegrave. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather Sir Oliver St John of Bletsoe, Spelsbury and Lydiard Tregoze was the husband of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso, great-great-granddaughter of Roger de Beauchamp, who was summoned to Parliament as Baron Beauchamp of Bletso from 1363 to 1379. Since then that title had not been assumed, although St John was considered to be the line of heir. On 13 January 1559 he was raised to the peerage himself as Baron St John of Bletso, in the county of Bedfordshire.

Career

He served in the household of Prince Edward and on his master's accession as Edward VI in 1547, he entered the royal household. He was elected as knight of the shire for Bedfordshire in 1547. He served as High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 1551 and from 1560 to 1569 was Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire.
The offices he held during his career included:
Lord St John of Bletso married twice. He married firstly, before 8 February 1542, Agnes, the daughter of Sir John Fisher, and by her had four sons and six daughters:
He married, before 28 August 1572, Elizabeth, the daughter of Geoffrey Chamber, and widow of Sir Walter Stonor, Reginald Conyers and Edward Griffin.

Death

He died on 21 April 1582 and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son John.