He was born in 1534, the 3rd son of Sir Nicholas Wentworth (d. 1557) of
Lillingstone Lovell,
Oxfordshire and Jane Josselyn (d. 1569), daughter of John Josselyn of Hyde Hall,
Sawbridgeworth,
Hertfordshire. His father was chief porter of
Calais.
Marriage and issue He married, on 26 November 1563, Helen Agmondesham, daughter of Richard Agmondesham of
Heston,
Middlesex, widow of William Tyldesley,
Groom of the Chamber. By Helen he had 4 sons and 4 daughters: • Francis Wentworth, baptised at Burnham 3 October ?1566, and buried there in his infancy. • Paul Wentworth, baptised 9 February 1569. • Peter Wentworth, baptised 25 April 1574. • William Wentworth, baptised 22 January 1577, and living in 1615 with 2 sons and 2 daughters: • John Wentworth • Winsor Wentworth • Mary Wentworth • Margaret Wentworth • Anne Wentworth, (baptised 16 September 1565 – October 1591), married
Norton Knatchbull (d. 1636), of
Mersham Hatch, Kent, who survived her and remarried twice. She was buried at Burnham on 19 October 1591. • Helen Wentworth, married William Day, Esq. • Elizabeth Wentworth, married Robert Woodford, Esq. • Mary Wentworth, married — Barrow, and had a daughter: • Mary Barrow Paul Wentworth was of
Puritan sympathies, and he first came into notice by the freedom with which in 1566 he criticized Elizabeth's prohibition of discussion in parliament on the
question of her successor. Paul was probably the author of the famous puritan devotional book
The Miscellanie, or Regestrie and Methodicall Directorie of Orizons (London, 1615). He became possessed of
Burnham Abbey through his wife, to whose first husband, William Tyldesley, it had been granted at the
dissolution of the monasteries by
Henry VIII. His brother
Peter Wentworth (d. 1597) was also a prominent Puritan. The significance of both Paul and Peter Wentworth has in the past been exaggerated. In reality, although they did contend for
freedom of speech (for which they were both imprisoned), neither had any impact. Graves refers to them as "standard bearers without an army" as they had no significant following, ignoring the fact that they were part of a social movement. Graves denies the significance of Wentworth's speech on the Monday following the Queen's Saturday 9 November 1566 order to end discussion on a topic, which has been quoted for over four centuries. On the Monday following, Wentworth, who as far as is known had not previously intervened, asked ″whether the Queen’s commandment was not against the liberties″ of the House and presented three foundational ″questions″ that led to enhancement of the freedom of speech within parliament, amongst peers and later across society. ==Death==