Bacon, Nicholas (1509–1579)

English politician. After the dissolution of the monasteries 1539, he received a large share of the forfeited estates from Henry VIII. On the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558 he became a privy councillor and keeper of the Great Seal and played a considerable part in shaping government policy.

He graduated from Cambridge 1527, and became a barrister 1533. In 1537 he became solicitor of the Court of Augmentation and in 1546 attorney of the Court of Wards and Liveries. In 1550 he became a bencher (member of the governing body), and in 1552 treasurer, of the law society of Gray's Inn, London. He was the father of the scientist Francis Bacon.