A MAN who kept his head while holding the purse strings of England was clearly an extraordinary character.

That is the verdict of Margaret Scard, who spent 10 years researching and writing about William Paulet – the man who built the once magnificent Basing House.

Her hard work has certainly paid off with her first book, Tudor Survivor – The Life and Times of William Paulet.

Margaret said: “He was an interesting character who had an extraordinary career.

Nobody else seemed to have done any research on him and one of the reasons for that was because there were very few personal papers.

“I had a couple of old books about Hampshire and Wessex and his name kept popping up, but there was just nothing about him.

“Most of the information about him was only in official documents so it’s quite hard work to piece together his life story.”

Margaret spent time in The Bodleian Library and The British Library, as well as The National Archives at Kew, searching through old documents and state papers.

“He was born the son of a gentleman and when he died he was first Marquess of Winchester and the senior peer in the land,” said Margaret.

“He was Lord High Treasurer so he was one of the most influential men in England and he lived to an extraordinary age.

“I think he was probably 87 and although that is not old by our standards, the average age for his contemporaries at court was 61.”

Considering the political uncertainties of the time, his longevity is all the more remarkable.

“He survived the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I and died of old age, and yet he had been at the centre of politics for 40 years,” said Margaret.

“Before he died, he was asked how he survived and he recited a little verse saying, ‘I was a willow not an oak, I chided, I did not hurt with stroke.’ “What he meant was he handled people gently and didn’t go round bludgeoning people into doing things, but coerced them.

“I think he survived because he was good at his job and he provided continuity. And that was something that was sorely missing in the middle of the 16th century with the rapid change from Henry, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth.”

Paulet’s power was reflected in the house he built at Basing, replacing the previous one he inherited from his father.

“It was the largest house of any subject in England and he decorated it with expensive materials, bricks and glass with lots of ornamentation, which, of course, just emphasised the fact that he was very wealthy,” explained Margaret.

Those visiting Basing House could not have failed to have been impressed with what they saw, and that included kings and queens.

Among them was Henry VIII who paid a visit with Anne Boleyn shortly before she was beheaded on May 15, 1536.

Mary I and her husband Philip of Spain were impressed with the building and the way they were entertained.

“When Queen Mary married King Philip in Winchester, Paulet was among the nobles at the cathedral,” said Margaret.

“It was they who, on behalf of England, gave the queen away to Philip. Afterwards, Mary and Philip spent part of their honeymoon with Paulet at Basing House.”

As for Paulet himself, even Queen Elizabeth I admired the man, and her visit to Basing House was reported to being a memorable success, where “the Queen was most splendidly entertained and with all manner of good cheer.”

Indeed she was so impressed with his house and hosting that she bemoaned the fact that Paulet was so old.

The queen said that “if my lord treasurer were a young man, I could find in my heart to have him to my husband before many man in England.”

At the time, Queen Elizabeth was 27, while Paulet was 76.

A Tudor Weekend is being held at Basing House, in Old Basing, from Saturday, May 28 to Monday, May 30, to celebrate 450 years since its completion.

Margaret will be signing her book, at the Basing House gift shop and giving a series of short talks at the Education Centre on May 29 and 30.

Tudor Survivor, which costs £18.99 is published by The History Press and is available from all good bookshops.

For more information about the Tudor Weekend visit www3.hants.gov.uk/basing-house.