Sir Thomas Fanshawe KB (1580 – 17 December 1631) was an English government official and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1601 and 1629.

Biography

Fanshawe was the second son of Thomas Fanshawe and first son by his second wife Joan Smythe, daughter of Customer Smythe and was baptised on 15 September 1580. His father was Queen's Remembrancer of the Exchequer.Sybil M. Jack
‘Fanshawe, Sir Thomas (1580–1631)’
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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 29 June 2010 He was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

and admitted at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1595. He was an auditor for the Duchy of Lancaster.''HMC Laing Manuscripts'', vol. 1 (London, 1914), pp. 107-8. In 1601, he inherited the estate of Jenkins and Barking Manor, Essex, on the death of his father. Also in 1601 Fanshawe was elected Member of Parliament for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. He was elected MP for Lancaster in 1604. In 1606 became a barrister. He was re-elected MP for Lancaster in 1614 and 1621. He was knighted by King James in 1624. He was reelected MP for Lancaster in 1624, 1625, 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. Fanshawe married Anne Babington, daughter of Urias Babington and had three sons, of which only one,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, survived him. He was half-brother of Sir Henry Fanshawe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanshawe, Thomas 1580 births 1631 deaths English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Fanshawe family