Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton

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Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (* around 1495 - † August 1568 ) was an English peer and politician of the Tudor period .

Origin and family environment

Thomas Wharton came from a family of the landed gentry of County Westmorland who were Lords of the Manor of Wharton and Nateby. He was the son of Thomas Wharton and Agnes Warcop and was born around 1495. His great-grandfather, also called Thomas Wharton, was a MP for Appleby in the House of Commons from 1436 to 1437 .

Political and military career

Probably in 1520 he followed his father into the family estate. He then took part in the campaign against Scotland in April 1522 and received between 1527 and 1529 the accolade as a Knight Bachelor . Then he began a political career. First he was elected to the House of Commons for Appleby from 1529 to 1536 and was appointed Sheriff of County Cumberland from 1529 to 1530 . On the occasion of the unrest in the West Marches , he was appointed on July 31, 1531 to commander the contingent to suppress the unrest. He then became Comptroller under the Earl of Northumberland in January 1532 in the administration of the Marches. He was then one of the negotiators who negotiated a truce with Scotland on June 14, 1533. He was then one of the investigators who investigated Lord Dacre for high treason.

From 1535 to 1536 he was again Sheriff of Cumberland and then again from 1539 to 1540. During the rebellion of the north, the so-called Pilgrimage of Grace , 1536, he remained loyal to King Henry VIII and became one of his representatives in negotiations with Robert Aske , the leader of the rebellion, in Pontefract on December 2nd and 5th, 1536. In gratitude for his loyal service, he became Deputy Warden of the West Marches on June 8th, 1537 , although the Duke of Norfolk advised the King and Lord Cromwell against it ( he never serves the King well as warden ). The king trusted Wharton, however, and so he rose to serve in his service. He was only Captain and Governor of Carlisle on December 18, 1541, was from 1542 to 1544 as Knight of the Shire for Cumberland again a member of the House of Commons and received other military duties. During the campaign against Scotland, he distinguished himself in the battle of Solway Moss on January 24, 1542.

Because of his services he was raised to Baron Wharton in the Peerage of England on January 30, 1545 . It is recorded that the corresponding letters patent was publicly served on him. Since the patent has been lost, it was assumed in 1916 that the king had created a barony by writ , so that now female descendants of a title holder are entitled to inherit.

The 1st Baron Wharton was regularly called to the meetings of the House of Lords of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I from November 1546 to September 1566 . He was commander in the campaign against the Scottish Earls of Lennox and Glencairn 1543/44 and Warden of the West-Marches, member of the Council of the North June 1544-1549, since about 1544 steward of the lands of Furness Abbey . Since December 1551 he was one of the peers who indicted and convicted the Duke of Somerset . Finally, on July 31, 1553, he was appointed deputy warden of all three marches. He not only remained in office under Queen Maria, but was even promoted to Warden of the Middle Marches and, in addition, in 1555 appointed Captain of Berwick, Constable of Alnwick Castle and Keeper of Berwick Castle . He also received high offices under Queen Elizabeth I. So he was in 1560 Joint Warden (together with the Earl of Northumberland) of the Eastern and Middle Marches. Queen Elizabeth also made him Lieutenant General of the North and commissioned him in 1561 to investigate violations of the Act of Supremacy .

Wharton was married twice: from July 4, 1518 to Eleanor Stapleton and from November 18, 1561 to Lady Anne Talbot, widow of John Braye, 2nd Baron Braye , daughter of Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury . He died on August 23 or 24, 1568. He was succeeded by his son Thomas Wharton as 2nd Baron Wharton.

Literature and web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Complete Peerage , Volume XII, p. 1544.
  2. ^ History of Westmoreland and Cumberland , Volume 1, pp. 558 f.
  3. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 46.
  4. ^ Rymer, Volume XIV, p. 480.
  5. ↑ Footnote a to The Complete Peerage , Article 1. Baron Wharton, p. 596.
  6. ↑ Hamilton Papers, Volume 1, pp. 42-46.
  7. ↑ Sommerville: History of the Duchy of Lancaster. Volume 1, p. 510, footnote h.
  8. ^ The Complete Peerage , Volume XII, p. 597.
  9. ^ The Complete Peerage , Volume XII, p. 598.
  10. ↑ See Cracroft's Peerage
predecessor Office successor
New title created Baron Wharton
1545-1568 		Thomas Wharton
personal data
SURNAME Wharton, Thomas, 1st Baron Wharton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English peer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH around 1495
DATE OF DEATH August 23, 1568 or August 24, 1568