Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave, Suffolk, English Member of Parliament. In 1611 he was the first man to be created a baronet, making his successors Premier Baronets of England.
Bacon was the eldest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, by his first wife, Jane Ferneley, and was the half brother of Sir Francis Bacon. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1562, and became an "ancient" of the society in 1576. He entered Parliament in 1563 as a member for Beverley, and subsequently also represented Suffolk from 1572 to 1583. He was knighted in 1578, and was appointed High Sheriff of Suffolk for 1597.
On 22 May 1611, Bacon was created a baronet, of Redgrave in Suffolk, making him England's premier baronet. He married Anne, daughter of Sir William Butts of Thornage, Norfolk, and Anne Bures. He died in 1624, survived by at least one daughter and seven sons, the eldest of whom succeeded him. His daughter Anne married Sir Robert Drury, patron of the poet John Donne. One of his sons was Sir Nathaniel Bacon KB. It is believed that he is an ancestor of the figurative painter, Francis Bacon.
