Thomas Thynne (politician, around 1578)

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Sir Thomas Thynne (around 1578 - August 1, 1639 ) was an English nobleman and politician who was elected seven times as a member of the House of Commons .

Origin and first marriage

Thomas Thynne was the eldest son of John Thynne and Joan Hayward . His father was the eldest son of John Thynne , who had risen from the son of a Yeoman from Shropshire to an important country noble in south-west England, his mother came from a wealthy London merchant family. Thomas studied at Brasenose College , Oxford in 1592 . When he traveled from Oxford to London with his college friend John Marvyn in 1594, the 16-year-old Thynne met Marvyn's relatives, the young Maria Tuchet , in Beaconsfield . He was so in love with her that he secretly married her on May 16, 1594, without the knowledge of his or her parents. His bride was a daughter of George Tuchet, 11th Baron Audley , her mother was Lucy Marvyn, the only daughter of Sir James Marvyn, who was an enemy of his father. Because of this relationship, he kept the marriage secret for over a year, as the argument between his father and her grandfather had turned into a violent feud. When his parents found out about the marriage, Thynne and his parents fell out. His in-laws had given his bride no dowries, and his father tried in vain to have the marriage annulled . James Marvyn, the grandfather of his bride, tried, however, to use marriage to bring the warring families closer together. He left the estate of Compton Bassett in Wiltshire to Thynne and his wife and ensured that Thynne was elected in the general election of 1601 and 1604 as an MP for the Borough Hindon he controlled . Around 1601 Thynne actually managed to reconcile with his father, while his mother tried all her life to exclude him from his inheritance. After the death of his father in 1604, she left the Longleat family estate to her brother-in-law, Sir Henry Townshend, as a residence, and when she died in 1612, she bequeathed the property in Shropshire bequeathed by her father, including Caus Castle , his younger brother John.

Political career

Thynne, who had played no role in the two parliaments of 1601 and 1604, was knighted on August 20, 1604. In early 1605 he accompanied Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford , the patron of his family, when he traveled to Brussels as ambassador . After returning in September, Marvyn made him Colonel of the Wiltshire Militia. In October 1605, he attempted to take the place of his late father as Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire. However, the House of Commons ruled that this was illegal and ordered by-elections for Wiltshire on November 9th. In November 1607, Thynne became sheriff of Wiltshire for a year . He found the office annoying, laborious and time-consuming. In the following year the Lord Treasurer made him manage several crown estates in Wiltshire. With these offices as well as with the administration of his own property Thynne felt busy, so that he wanted to resign from his post as Colonel of the militia in August 1608, but Marvyn was able to prevent him. However, to the annoyance of the Earl of Hertford , the Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Thynne evaded his duties as Colonel by moving to London on November 2, 1608.

In October 1608, Thynne's tenure of Caus Castle was challenged by the Privy Council and asked to substantiate his claims. The following year he bought Warminster Manor from his brother-in-law Mervyn Tuchet for £ 3,650 , which he soon found to be overpriced and deeply regretted. After his first wife died in 1611, he married Catherine Howard, daughter of Charles Howard, around 1612. He thus cemented his ties to the powerful Howard family , to whose entourage he belonged from the beginning of 1612, but renounced a candidacy for the general election in 1614. That year he was Justice of the Peace for Shropshire. The overthrow of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and the replacement of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham in 1618 obviously did not bring Thynne at a disadvantage. In December 1620, thanks to the support of his former brother-in-law Mervyin Tuchet, who had inherited his grandfather James Marvyn in 1611 and was now Earl of Castlehaven, he was re-elected, this time for Heytesbury . Again he played almost no role during parliamentary sessions and became Sheriff of Gloucestershire towards the end of the legislature . This sparked a debate in the House of Commons as to whether a MP could be elected as sheriff until it was decided on November 21, 1621 that it was lawful. In 1624 Thynne was re-elected as MP for Heytesbury, he was also Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset and Deputy Lieutenant for Wiltshire. In 1625, the former Attorney General Sir Henry Yelverton Thynne offered a viscount for £ 8,000 , but contrary to expectations, he turned it down, even though he had previously thought of acquiring a title. Instead, he decided to run again as Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire and asked Sir Henry Ludlow for assistance. His hopes were dashed when he learned that William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and William Seymour, 2nd Earl of Hertford , wanted to nominate Sir Francis Seymour , Hertford's younger brother, as candidates. Then Thynne ran again for Hindon, as well as in 1626. After King Charles I had dissolved parliament in June 1626, he raised unauthorized taxes that were not approved. Thynne paid the required tax of £ 50 in 1626 and probably the tax required in 1627 as well. Like the other justice of the peace from Wiltshire, however, he refused to pay another levy in February 1628, instead they turned to the Privy Council and asked for Parliament to be reconvened. These and other petitions convinced the king to convene a parliament again in 1628. Thynne ran for Wiltshire with the support of Sheriff Walter Long, but Francis Seymour and William Button were elected as MPs. Thynne again had to be content with the Hindon mandate. As usual, he contributed little to the work of Parliament, but was one of the twelve MPs who, on June 22, together with the Speaker, asked the King to postpone Parliament. In November 1629 he was sheriff of Somerset for a year but was given permission to exercise his office from his Longleat residence instead of Somerset. When his conduct of office was investigated in 1631, it was found that he had almost missed his duties and was fined £ 200. Nevertheless, he was also sheriff of Shropshire for a year in 1633.

Catherine Howard, the second wife of Thomas Thynne. Oil painting from 1618

wealth

In contrast to his duties as a member of parliament and as sheriff, which he apparently carried out only very negligently, he pursued his own financial interests. By skillfully exercising his office as assistant forest overseer of the royal Selwood Forest, he carried out a 1633 royal land survey by which he was able to acquire parts of the land and so increase his sizable property. At that time, apart from his peers , he was considered the richest Englishman. He offered Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton £ 40,000 if he married his daughter, or alternatively suggested that his eldest son marry one of Southampton's daughters, even if the bride did not receive a dowry. Nevertheless, none of the intended marriages took place.

He was buried in an elaborate burial in the Longbridge Deverill family vault.

progeny

From his first marriage to Maria Tuchet he had three sons and a daughter, including:

From his second marriage to Catherine Howard, he had three sons and a daughter, including:

In his will, he required his widow to transfer her dowry to provide for his sons from his first marriage, otherwise it should be excluded from his will. She then refused to testify to the will. But his eldest son James was also angry about the provisions of the will and accused his stepmother of influencing the will for her and her children's benefit. As a result, there were bitter trials between Thynne's children. King Charles I tried in vain to reach an agreement. Ultimately, his eldest son James Longleat inherited, while his son Henry Frederick raised to baronet and finally became the progenitor of the Marquess of Bath .

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personal data
SURNAME Thynne, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thynne, Sir Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1578
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1639
Place of death Longleat