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Wriothesley, Thomas (1505 - 1550)

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Born / Died

Birth Date: 1505-12-21
Death Date: 1550-07-30

Notes

Employed at Court from 1524. Clerk to Edmund Peckham, Cofferer of the Household 1529--30. Private secretary to Thomas Cromwell and Cromwell's representative at the Privy Seal in the 1530s. On diplomatic mission in the Netherlands July 1538--March 1539. Under house arrest at Ely Place 6 March 1546/7; released 29 June 1547; again under house arrest 14 Jan. 1549/50 until death

Parents

Marriages/Other Unions

  1. Cheney, Jane ( - 1574)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: n.d.
    Union ended: n.d.

Siblings

Male

  • Wriothesley, Edward (1509 - )

Female

  • Wriothesley, Elizabeth (1507 - )
  • Wriothesley, Anne (1508 - )

Offspring

Primary Title

  • 1st Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield

Titles

  • 1st Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield
    Assumed: 1543/4-01-01
    Vacated: 1550-07-30
  • 2nd Earl of Southampton
    Assumed: 1546/7-02-16
    Vacated: 1550-07-30
  • Knight
    Assumed: 1540-04-18
    Vacated: 1550-07-30
  • Knight of the Garter
    Assumed: 1545-04-23 (date nominated; installed 17 May 1545)
    Vacated: 1550-07-30

Details of Offices

Began Ended Notes
Clerk of the Signet, England 1530 -5 -4 1540 -04 Held jointly
Bailiff, Warwickshire 1535 -8 -29 1550 -07 -30
Coroner and Attorney, King's Bench, England 1535/6 -1 -2
Constable and Doorward, Berkshire 1536 -7 -21 Grant in survivorship; held jointly with Lord Sandys
Engraver of the Mint, London 1536 -5 -13 (possibly started office 29 May 1536) 1544 -03 -31
Keeper, Berkshire 1536 -7 -21 Grant in survivorship; held jointly with Lord Sandys
Steward, Receiver, Bailiff and Woodward, Berkshire 1536 -7 -21 Grant in survivorship; held jointly with Lord Sandys
MP, Hampshire 1539 1540
Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer, Hampshire 1540
JP, Hampshire 1540 1542
Principal Secretary to the King, England 1540 -4 1544 Held jointly with Ralph Sadler
Privy Councillor, England 1540 1549/50 -02 Excluded from the Council board 6 March 1546/7; resumed place by 17 Jan. 1548/9
Bailiff, Hampshire 1540/1 -2 -20 1550 -07 -30
Constable, Hampshire 1540/1 -2 -20 1550 -07 -30
Constable, Southampton 1540/1 -1 -8 (possibly appointed 7 July 1541) 1550 -07 -30
Keeper, Hampshire 1540/1 -2 -20 1550 -07 -30
Steward, Hampshire 1540/1 -2 -20 1550 -07 -30
Chief Steward, Lands of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, England 1542 -11 -3 Lands in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk and Wiltshire
Clerk of the Crown and King's Attorney, King's Bench, England 1542 Held jointly with Thomas White
Constable, Hampshire 1542 -10 -28 1550 -07 -30
Keeper, Hampshire 1542 -11 -3
Master of the Game, Hampshire 1542 -10
MP, Hampshire 1542 1544
Chamberlain of the Exchequer, England 1542/3 -1 -29 1550 -07 -30 For life; held jointly
High Steward, Hampshire 1543 -5 -14
Chancellor of England, England 1544 -5 -3 1546/7 -03 -6 formally dismissed 7 May 1547 Wriothesley was acting Chancellor from 23 April 1544
JP, Worcestershire 1544
JP, Cambridgeshire 1544
JP, Staffordshire 1544
JP, Essex 1544
JP, Suffolk 1544
JP, Oxfordshire 1544
JP, Gloucestershire 1544
JP, Huntingdonshire 1544
Keeper of the Great Seal, England 1544 -5 -3 1546/7 -03 -6 formally dismissed 7 May 1547 Appointed acting Keeper on 23 April 1544
Regency Councillor, England 1544 -7 -9 During Henry VIII's absence in France
Commissioner of Array, Berkshire 1545
Commissioner of Array, Wiltshire 1545
Commissioner of Array, Sussex 1545
Commissioner of Array, Surrey 1545
Commissioner of Array, Oxfordshire 1545
Commissioner of Array, Hampshire 1545
JP, Warwickshire 1545
JP, Yorkshire: East Riding 1545
JP, Yorkshire: North Riding 1545
JP, Yorkshire: West Riding 1545
JP, Sussex 1545
JP, Derbyshire 1545
Executor of Henry VIII's Will, England 1547 Held jointly
Governor to Edward VI, England 1547
Privy Councillor, England 1548 1549/50 -02 -2

Details of Properties

Residence

  • Titchfield, Hampshire
  • Ely Place, Holborn, Middlesex
  • Lincoln Place, Holborn, Middlesex
  • Micheldever Manor, Hampshire
    Acquired: 1544
    Purchased

Lands

  • Berkshire
  • Devon
  • Dorset
  • Essex
  • Hampshire: Beaulieu Abbey
    Acquired: 1538
    Granted
  • Hampshire: Tichfield Abbey
    Acquired: 1537
    Granted; included 11 manors and 5000 acres of land
  • Hertfordshire
  • Kent
  • Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • London (city-county): 'Great Mansion' within Austin Friars
    Acquired: 1540-07-26
    Granted
  • Middlesex
  • Northamptonshire
  • Somerset
  • Warwickshire
  • Isle of Wight: Quarr Abbey
    Acquired: 1537
    Granted
  • Wiltshire
  • (city-county) in Yorkshire
  • Yorkshire

Event Naming Patron

Event Type Date Location Troupe
Performance - Dover (Unknown), Dover, Kent Lord Chancellor's Minstrels
Performance - Chichester (Unknown), Chichester, Sussex Lord Wriothesley's Performers

Patronized Troupes

Troupe Name Patron Troupe Type # of events
Lord Wriothesley's Performers Wriothesley, Thomas (1505 - 1550) Entertainers/Minstrels 1
Lord Chancellor's Minstrels Wriothesley, Thomas (1505 - 1550) Entertainers/Minstrels 1

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Bindoff, S.T. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1509–1558. 3 vols. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward VI [1547–53]. 6 vols. London: HMSO, 1924--9
  • 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.