Sir Ralph Sadler
- May 24, 2025
- 6 min read
You may recognise the name Ralph Sadler from Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, or the subsequent BBC adaptation, where Sadler was played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster. After the latest series, The Mirror and the Light aired last year, I was intrigued to find out what happened to Ralph Sadler, the only supporter of Thomas Cromwell who tried to stick up for the man who had once been his mentor, friend and father-like figure. This post is a quick rundown of life of Sadler and who he was.
Ralph Sadler was born in 1507 and was born into fairly humble beginnings. At a young age, Ralph entered the household of Thomas Cromwell, the famous lawyer and future ‘fixer’ for Henry VIII. Whilst in the Cromwell household, he learnt Latin, French and Greek, as well as the law, preparing him for his future as Cromwell’s secretary. The talent of this young man was soon noticed by Henry VIII and Sadler would leave Cromwell to work under Henry VIII, rising to become a Principle Secretary of State, amongst other roles within court life.
At the time of Thomas Cromwell’s downfall in 1540, Sadler was briefly taken to the Tower of London to await his own fate, just as Cromwell did. Unlike his former master and friend, Sadler was released within a few days, showing how much he had become valued by Henry VIII. Just as shown in the Wolf Hall adaptation, Sadler wrote to Henry calling for mercy for Cromwell. These pleas were never answered, but didn’t seem to affect Sadler’s future career as Sadler was granted land by both Henry VIII and Edward VI.
According to Sadler’s Victorian biographer, it is clear to see why Henry VIII favoured Ralph: ‘for a man, none was more complete than Sir Ralph Sadleir, who was at once a most exquisite writer and a most valiant and experienced soldier – qualifications that seldom meet (so great is the distance between the sword and the pen, the coat of mail and the gown)’.
Sadler’s aptitude for languages made him a brilliant choice for diplomatic missions to both France and Scotland. His time in Scotland was perhaps his most important as the relationship between the two countries was often on the brink of war. To combat this, Ralph was sent to Scotland when Mary Queen of Scots was an infant. He was crucial to securing a marriage arrangement for the infant Queen and the future Edward VI, although this marriage never came to fruition as Mary was instead betrothed to Francis, the French Dauphin. Whilst in Scotland, he was presented Mary in her swaddling clothes. Little did he think then that they would be connected again much later in his life.
In 1535, around the time Sadler was rising within the Tudor court, he built himself a house called Brick (spelt Bryk) Place in Hackney, which was not part of London then, but a village a few miles from the City. This home reflected his newfound status and was built around the time of his marriage to Ellen, or Helen, Barre. It still survives, although is now called Sutton House, as the oldest domestic building in East London. It has been much changed since Ralph’s time and is now looked after by the National Trust.
Whilst mentioning Sadler’s marriage, it’s time to mention an intriguing part of his marriage to Ellen. Ellen had previously been married to a man called Matthew Barre, who had left her and was presumed dead. Ellen had two daughters from this marriage. She went on to have another nine children with Sadler, of which seven survived infancy. It appears that they had a happy marriage together. However, ten years into their marriage, Matthew Barre reappeared demanding his wife back. It turns out that he had been living in Ireland and was very much alive. This now meant that the Sadlers marriage, and thus their children, were illegitimate. To save his marriage and the status of his children, Ralph got a private Act of Parliament passed to legitimise his children. This was obviously a delicate matter, especially considering his position at court, so it was never publicly published.
Despite the excitement and busyness of being an active part of court at this time, as a fervent Protestant, Ralph Sadler was forced to retire from court during the time of Henry VIII’s Catholic daughter, Mary I. He would then briefly return when her Protestant sister, Elizabeth I acceded to the throne. By this time, he was already into his old age and hoped to live quietly at his home of Standon in Hertfordshire.
That was until at around the age of 78, he was called out of retirement to be a temporary gaoler of Mary Queen of Scots after Bess of Hardwick and her husband, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, had been relinquished of that role, between August 1584 and April 1585. This sadly meant that an old man would be forced to make the very long journey to the Midlands and spend a very long and cold winter in the draughty Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire and Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. In a letter written by Sadler at this time, he made his feelings very clear:
‘yield myself to be a prisoner in the Tower all the days of my life, rather than I would attend any longer here upon this charge. And if I had known, when I came from home, I should have tarried here so long, contrary to all promises made unto me, I would have refused, as others do … For a greater punishment cannot be ministered unto me than to force me to remain here in this sort, being more meet now in mine old and later days to rest at home to prepare myself … and to seek the everlasting quietness of the life to come … and if it might light on me tomorrow, I would think myself most happy, for I assure you I am weary of this life; and the rather for that I see that things well meant by me, are not so well taken.’
You can easily imagine a very sad and ill old man being forced to carry on in this role much longer than he either wished or could stand. It was quite obviously becoming a very dire situation. However, there was some respite as Sadler was able to partake in hawking, a favourite hobby of his. Regardless of what he thought of Mary Queen of Scots, who was just as ill as her gaoler at this point, Sadler did get into trouble for allowing her to hawk with him. This kind treatment, along with his age, meant that Sir Amias Paulet, was eventually to take over gaoler duties from Sadler. Paulet would also be Mary’s last gaoler before her arrest and subsequent trail and execution at Fotheringhay Castle.
Sadler was then a part of the jury to condemn Mary to die. He said in November 1586 that Elizabeth I would never be safe whilst Mary lived and that Mary was ‘a most detestable traitor to our sovereign and enemy to us all’. A very different viewpoint from the months before when he seemed to be a kind gaoler. It’s probable that the experience of how many Catholic plots that had been done in Mary’s name, rather than Mary herself, might have swayed this view. However, with the passage of time, this is uncertain.
Ralph Sadler died in March 1587 aged around 80, just seven weeks after Mary’s execution, and his tomb at Standon in Hertfordshire. He died as the richest commoner, a world away from what it looked like his fate would have been whilst he was incarcerated in the Tower of London in the wake of Thomas Cromwell’s downfall. However, he had survived the men who had helped to bring his father figure down, In a way, they had the last laugh, especially as Ralph’s eldest son was named Thomas after Cromwell.
The Tudor Travel Guide, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler (Sadlier)’, https://thetudortravelguide.com/sir-ralph-sadler-sadlier/
Ibid; ‘Sutton House: home of Ralph Sadler, late of ‘Wolf Hall’’, https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/sutton-house-home-of-ralph-sadler-late-of-wolf-hall/
History of Parliament, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler’, https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/sadler-sir-ralph-1507-87
Major F. Sadlier Stoney, A Memoir of the Life and Times of the Right Honourable Sir Ralph Sadler (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1877)
The Tudor Travel Guide, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler’
‘Sutton House: home of Ralph Sadler’
The Tudor Travel Guide, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler’
History of Parliament, ‘Sir Ralph Sadler’
Ibid
Ibid
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