William Paget, 1st Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1506 – 9 June 1563), was an English statesman and accountant who held prominent positions in the service of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. He was the patriarch of the Paget family, whose descendants were created Earl of Uxbridge (1714) and Marquess of Anglesey (1815).
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Early life and education
William Paget was born around 1506 in humble circumstances, but little is confirmed about his origin. A family named Paget was recorded as nail makers in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, during the Tudor period. His father has been variously described as a sheep shearer, barber, clothworker, constable, or nail smithy.
According to Sir William Dugdale, he was the son of John Pachett or Paget, one of the serjeants-at-mace of the city of London. According to Staffordshire historian Frederick Hackwood, he was born in Wednesbury and taken to London by his father when he was very young.
Paget must have been extremely bright, as he was accepted as a pupil at St Paul's School when William Lily was its headmaster. At St Paul's, he befriended the future antiquary John Leland and later acted as one of his benefactors, and became close friends with Sir Thomas Wriothesley and Sir Anthony Denny. He then went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied civil law, proceeding afterwards to the University of Paris. At Cambridge, he was taken under the wing of Stephen Gardiner, Master at Trinity Hall, who became his patron.