Cromwell, Thomas (1485 - 1540)

Biographical Overview

Parents

Titles - 3
Properties - 28
Total events naming patron - 10
Troupes - 4
Bibliographic Sources - 6
Legend

patron legend

Base layers

Data layers

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Born / Died

Birth Date: by 1485
Death Date: 1540-07-28

Notes

Member of Cardinal Wolsey's household ca. 1516--30. Admitted to Gray's Inn 1524. Imprisoned in the Tower on accusation of treason 10 June 1540; attainted 29 June 1540; beheaded

Siblings

Female

Cromwell, Elizabeth ( - )
Cromwell, Katherine ( - )

Marriages/Other Unions

  1. Wykes, Elizabeth ( - 1527)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: n.d.
    Union ended: n.d.

Offspring

From Wykes, Elizabeth ( - 1527)

  1. Male offspring: Cromwell, Gregory (d. 1551)
  2. Female offspring: Cromwell, Anne (n.d.)
  3. Female offspring: Cromwell, Grace (n.d.)

Primary Title

1st Baron Cromwell

Titles

  • 1st Baron Cromwell
    Assumed 1536-07-09
    Vacated 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
  • Knight of the Garter
    Assumed 1537-08-03 (date nominated; installed 26 Aug. 1537)
    Vacated 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
  • 16th Earl of Essex
    Assumed 1540-04-17
    Vacated 1540-06-29 (date attainted)

Details of Offices

Began Ended Notes
Collector of Revenues, Province of York 1514 n.d.
MP, England 1523 n.d. Constituency unknown
MP, Somerset 1529 n.d.
Privy Councillor, England by 1530/1-1 n.d.
Clerk of the Hanaper, England 1532-7-16 (held solely, then jointly April 1535) 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Master of the Jewel House, England 1532-4-14 (held solely, then jointly ca. 1535) 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Chancellor of the Exchequer, England 1533-4-12 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Recorder, Bristol 1533 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Steward, Westminster 1533-9-12 1535-05 Held solely, then jointly from 14 Feb. 1533/4
Surveyor of the King's Woods, England by 1533 n.d.
Constable, Hertfordshire 1534 1540-06-29 (date attainted) Held jointly
Master of the Rolls, England 1534-10-8 1536-07-10
Principal Secretary to the King, England 1534-4 1540-04
Chancellor, High Steward & Visitor, Cambridgeshire 1535 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Constable, Gloucestershire 1535 1540-06-29 (date attainted) Held jointly
Steward, Middlesex 1535-5-12 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Steward, Duchy of Lancaster 1535-5-12 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Steward, Middlesex 1535-5-16 n.d.
Visitor General of the Monasteries, England 1535 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
JP, Dorset 1536 1539
Keeper of the Privy Seal, England 1536-7-2 before 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
MP, Kent 1536 n.d. Possibly held this constituency
Steward, Essex 1536-6-9 n.d.
Vicar General & Vice-Regent of the King in Spirituals, England 1536-7-18 n.d.
Chief Justice in Eyre & Warden, North of Trent 1537-12-30 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Dean, Somerset 1537 before 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
JP, Suffolk 1537 1539
JP, Middlesex 1537 n.d.
JP, Hertfordshire 1537 1540
JP, Derbyshire 1537 1539
JP, Westmorland 1537 n.d.
JP, Kent 1537 1539
JP, Gloucestershire 1537 n.d.
JP, Wiltshire 1537 1539
JP, Oxfordshire 1537 n.d.
JP, Lincolnshire 1537 1540
JP, Cornwall 1537 1540
JP, Yorkshire: West Riding 1537 1540
Steward, Essex 1537-12-3 n.d.
JP, Lancashire 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Huntingdonshire 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Berkshire 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Cambridgeshire 1537/8 1539
JP, Hampshire 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Cumberland 1537/8 1539
JP, Sussex 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Northumberland 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Worcestershire 1537/8 1539
JP, Herefordshire 1537/8 n.d.
JP, Somerset 1537/8 1540
JP, Leicestershire 1537/8 1539
Capt, Isle of Wight 1538-11-2 before 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
Governor, Isle of Wight 1538-11-2 before 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
JP, Nottinghamshire 1538 n.d.
JP, Hertfordshire 1538 n.d.
JP, Surrey 1538 1539
JP, Northamptonshire 1538 1539
JP, Yorkshire: East Riding 1538 n.d.
JP, Essex 1538 n.d.
JP, Staffordshire 1538 n.d.
JP, Norfolk 1538 n.d.
JP, Warwickshire 1538 1539
JP, Shropshire 1538 1539
JP, Yorkshire: North Riding 1538 1539
JP, York 1538 n.d.
JP, Devon 1538 1540
Constable, near Maidstone 1538/9-1-4 1540-06-29 (date attainted)
JP, Cheshire 1539 1540
JP, Middlesex 1539 n.d.
JP, Buckinghamshire 1539 n.d.
JP, Gloucestershire 1539 1540
Steward, Essex 1539-9-20 n.d.
JP, Northamptonshire 1539/40 n.d.
JP, Hertfordshire 1539/40 n.d.
JP, Essex 1539/40 n.d.
JP, Wiltshire 1539/40 n.d.
Lord Chamberlain, England 1540-4-18 n.d.

Details of Properties

Residence

  • Austin Friars,
    Residence from 1524--ca. 1534; built house ca. 1532.
  • Austin Friars, London (city-county)
  • Austins Friars house, London (city-county)
    House stood 'against the gate' of the Austin Friars in Broad Street
    Acquired: 1522-09
    Divested: 1540-06-29
  • Fenchurch Street house, London (city-county)
    Divested: 1522-09

Lands

  • Norfolk, Suffolk and part of Cambridgeshire
    Acquired: 1538-07-04
    Granted a portion of the diocese's lands
  • Bedfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Devon
  • Essex: Abbess Roding & Langham Hall Manors, Braiswick & Greenstead Manor (from St John's Abbey), St Osyth Monestary & Lands (Mile End & Abbots Hall Manors)
    Acquired: 1540-04-10
    Divested: 1540-06-29
    Granted
  • Essex: Great Horkesley Manor
    Acquired: 1539
    Divested: 1540-06-29
    Purchased
  • Essex: Little Horkesley Priory & Manor
    Acquired: 1530
    Divested: 1540-06-29
    Granted
  • Hertfordshire
  • Kent
  • Leicestershire: Blaston Manor
    Acquired: 1538
    Divested: 1538
    Granted; conveyed to son Gregory. Later known as Cromwell's Manor
  • Leicestershire: Launde Abbey
    Acquired: 1540-04-10
    Granted
  • Lincolnshire
  • Middlesex
  • Norfolk: North Elmham Manor
  • Northamptonshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • Rutland
  • Rutland: Oakham Lordship
    Acquired: 1536
  • Wales
  • Suffolk
  • Surrey
  • Sussex
  • Wiltshire
  • Yorkshire

Events Naming Patron

Event Date Location Troupe
Performance 1537-1538 New College, Oxford , Oxfordshire Lord Cromwell's Entertainers
Performance 1537-1537 King's College, Cambridge , Cambridgeshire Lord Cromwell's Performers
Performance 1537-1538 Guildhall, Cambridge , Cambridgeshire Lord Cromwell's Players
Performance 1539-1540 Guildhall, Cambridge , Cambridgeshire Lord Cromwell's Players
Performance 1536-1537 Booth Hall, Shrewsbury , Shropshire Lord Privy Seal's Players
Performance 1537-1538 Mr Whittall's Tavern, Ludlow , Shropshire Lord Privy Seal's Players
Performance 1538-1538 Booth Hall, Shrewsbury , Shropshire Lord Privy Seal's Players
Performance 1538-1538 Canterbury (Unknown), Hackington , Kent Lord Privy Seal's Players
Performance 1539-1539 Archbishop's Palace, Canterbury , Kent Lord Privy Seal's Players
Performance 1540-1541 Common Hall, York , York (city-county) in Yorkshire Lord Privy Seal's Players

Patronized Troupes

Troupe Name Patron Troupe Type # of events
Lord Cromwell's Entertainers Cromwell, Thomas (1485 - 1540) Entertainers/Minstrels 1
Lord Cromwell's Performers Cromwell, Thomas (1485 - 1540) Entertainers/Minstrels 1
Lord Cromwell's Players Cromwell, Thomas (1485 - 1540) Players 2
Lord Privy Seal's Players Cromwell, Thomas (1485 - 1540) Players 6

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

Beckingsale, B.W. Thomas Cromwell, Tudor Minister. London: Macmillan, 1978.
Bindoff, S.T. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558. 3 vols. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982.
The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. 1887–98 (8 vols); 1910–59 (13 vols). 6 vols. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1982.
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII [1509–47]. 21 vols and Addenda (2 vols). London: HMSO, 1864–1932.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 01/05/2005 (http://www.oxforddnb.com)
The Victoria History of the County of Middlesex. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. 11 vols. London; London and Oxford: Archibald Constable [vol 2]; Oxford UP [vols 1, 3–11], 1911 [vol 2], 1962–98 [vol 1, 3–11].