Sir Thomas Englefield (also known as ''Inglefield'''' Dictionary of National Biography, Englefield, Sir Thomas (1455–1514)'') (c. 1455 – 3 April 1514) was

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. T ...

. He was born, probably in Englefield in Berkshire, around 1455, the son of John Englefield whose family had been Lords of the Manor there for many generations. His father died while he was quite young and his grandfather, Robert Englefield, had him educated in law at the Middle Temple. He was created a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

on the marriage of Prince Arthur in 1501. He held land on the Welsh border, notably in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

where he became a magistrate (JP) in 1493. He was returned to Parliament as

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

(MP) for Berkshire in 1497 and 1510 and on both occasions elected Speaker of the House. He had married Margery, daughter of Sir Richard Danvers with whom he had two sons, Richard, who died young and

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 ...

, his heir and the father of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

politician, Sir

Francis Englefield Sir Francis Englefield (c. 1522 – 1596) was an English courtier and Roman Catholic exile. Family Francis Englefield, born about 1522, was the eldest son of Thomas Englefield (1488–1537) of Englefield, Berkshire, Justice of the Common Pl ...

References

History of Parliament ENGLEFIELD, Sir Thomas (1455–1514) of Englefield, Berks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englefield, Thomas 1450s births 1514 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Englefield, Berkshire Knights of the Bath Speakers of the House of Commons of England Members of the Parliament of England for Berkshire English MPs 1497 English MPs 1510