EDWARD VI: (1537-1553) King of England & Ireland 1547-53. Son of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and England's ...

EDWARD VI: (1537-1553) King of England & Ireland 1547-53. Son of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and England's first monarch to be raised as a Protestant.
A good, rare D.S., Edward, as King, at the head, one page (vellum), oblong folio, Manor of St. James's, 24th May 1547. The manuscript document is a Warrant addressed to Richard Bonnye (or Bunny), Receiver of the Royal Rents and Revenues in the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, the Bishopric of Durham and the Archdeaconry of Richmond, commanding him to annually deliver to Sir Thomas Grey, Treasurer of the town of Berwick, the sum of £3000 for payment of the fees and wages of the officers and soldiers of the town. Countersigned at the foot by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset ('E: Somerset'; c.1500-1552, Lord Protector of England 1547-49 during the minority of his nephew, King Edward VI) and five other members of the Privy Council comprising John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford ('J Russell'; c.1485-1554/55, Lord Privy Seal 1542-55 and Lord High Steward, for the Coronation of King Edward VI, 1547) Sir Thomas Cheney ('T Cheyne'; c.1485-1558, English Administrator & Diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in South East England 1536-58), Sir Anthony Denny ('A D….' a large part of the signature worn away, 1501-1549, Groom of the Stool, a confidant of King Henry VIII who attended the monarch on his death bed), Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel ('H. Arundell', 1512-1580, English Nobleman, Lord Chamberlain) and Sir Ralph Sadler ('R. Sadleyr', 1507-1587, English Statesman, Secretary of State 1540-43, Master of the Great Wardrobe 1543-53). With a large portion of the blind embossed paper seal of the Privy Council affixed. A small diamond shaped spindle hole appears in the upper left margin, not affecting the text or signatures, some light overall creasing and minor dust staining and with a few very small holes to the lower edge and the upper edge a little frayed. A small area of text to the right side of the document is a little rubbed and a few words are partially illegible, GA rare document signed by the nine-year old King Edward VI in the first year of his reign, four months after the death of King Henry VIII, and countersigned by his uncle, Edward Seymour, leader of the Regency Council.Sir Thomas Grey (c.1509-1570), the beneficiary of the present Warrant, served as Justice of the Peace for Northumberland 1547-54 and as Treasurer for Berwick-upon-Tweed 1547-50. The fall of Edward Seymour as Protector in 1550 cost Grey the treasurership of Berwick, which was transferred to Richard Bunny (c.1513-1584) to whom the present Warrant is addressed.Provenance: The present document was formerly contained in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) English Antiquary and Book Collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscripts in the 19th century. The document was sold by Sotheby's on 27th June 1977 (lot 4865, MS 25912) and most likely derived from the collection formed by the antiquary John Wilson of Broomhead (1719-1783) which included a volume of Bunny's paper as receiver of the Northern Revenues.The third of the Tudor monarchs, King Edward VI's reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest that culminated in riot and rebellion in 1549. The transformation of the church into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, the architect of the reforms being Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose Book of Common Prayer is still used. King Edward VI fell ill in February 1553 and died at the young age of 15.