Sir Thomas Gargrave (1495–1579) was an English

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

who served as

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

in 1565 and 1569. His principal residence was at

Nostell Priory Nostell Priory is a Palladian house in Nostell, West Yorkshire, England, near Crofton on the road to Doncaster from Wakefield. It dates from 1733, and was built for the Winn family on the site of a medieval priory. The Priory and its contents ...

, one of many grants of land that Gargrave secured during his lifetime. He was

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

and vice president of the

Council of the North The Council of the North was an administrative body first set up in 1484 by King Richard III of England, to improve access to conciliar justice in Northern England. This built upon steps by King Edward IV of England in delegating authority in the ...

Early life

Gargrave was the son of Thomas Gargrave of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, and Elizabeth, daughter of William

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

Hooton Levitt Hooton Levitt (sometimes spelled Hooton Levett) is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England; one of four villages in the county that carry the name of Hooton, meaning 'farmstead on a spur of ...

and

Normanton, West Yorkshire Normanton is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Wakefield and south-west of Castleford. The civil parish extends west and north to the River Calder, and includes the large villa ...

. Through his mother's Levett family, Gargrave was related to such Yorkshire clans as the Wickersleys and their descendants, the Swyfts (Swifts), the Reresbys, the Barnbys, the Wentworths, the Bosviles, the Mirfins and others. He received a legal education at either Gray's Inn or the Middle Temple, and by 1521 began his career as Steward of the Household of

Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Darcy or of Temple Hurst, ( 1467 – 30 June 1537) was an English nobleman, the only son, and heir, of Sir William Darcy (1443 – 30 May 1488) and his wife, Euphemia Langton, the daughter of Sir John Langton. Dar ...

(often called Lord Darcy of the North), where Gargrave's ambition and drive were immediately apparent.

Political career

Gargrave served in Scotland in 1547 as treasurer to the English army during the war known as the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...

under

Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation ...

. The

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

subsequently helped him gain a place on the

which required that he be knighted. With the help of Darcy's influence, Gargrave rose quickly, after being knighted in 1549 and becoming

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 ...

for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in 1553, 1554 and 1555 and again in 1563, 1571 and 1572, he was made Deputy Constable for

Pontefract Castle Pontefract (or Pomfret) Castle is a castle ruin in the town of Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, England. King Richard II is thought to have died there. It was the site of a series of famous sieges during the 17th-century English Civil War ...

, Steward of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

, Receiver of the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government revenu ...

for Yorkshire,

Master in Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

, and

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

for

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

. Gargrave's rise was meteoric, from humble steward to Knight of the Realm and one of the most powerful men in England, serving frequently on Yorkshire business and at Court. Gargrave was elected speaker in Queen Elizabeth's first parliament in 1559 and widely known for his address to Parliament of 25 January 1559 in which he urged

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

to take a husband and marry. He was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1565 and 1569. In 1567 he acquired Nostell Priory from James Blunt, Lord Mountjoy, for £3560. In August 1568, Gargrave was named supervisor of the estate of William Swyfte of Rotherham, brother of Robert Swyfte, Esq., of

Broom Hall Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498, and was built by th ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. During the

Northern Rebellion The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholicism, Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with M ...

from November to December 1569 he was keeper of Pontefract Castle and guarded bridges over the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...

with 100 soldiers.

Private life

Sir Thomas Gargrave married Anne, daughter of William Cotton and Margaret (Culpeper) of

Oxon Hoath Oxon Hoath is a Grade II* listed Châteauesque-style former manor house with 73 acres (29½ hectares) of grounds at West Peckham, Kent. The spellings Oxenhoath, Oxen Hoath and Oxonhoath are common alternatives. The spelling Oxenholt was also u ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, by whom he had his only child, Sir Cotton Gargrave, also

. He married secondly Jane, widow of Sir John Wentworth of North Elmsall, West Yorkshire.

Legacy

In ''Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire'', author Joseph Tilley sums up the Gargrave legacy as follows: "The Gargraves were a knightly house, who came in for extensive grants of Abbey lands in Yorkshire, but who, within a century afterwards, sank into obscurity. The grandfather of the purchaser of One Ash was Speaker of Queen Elizabeth's first

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and President of the

. He was a favourite of Her Majesty and her minister Burghley; he had a grant from Bess, of the Old Park,

, but he adopted the glorious old Priory of Nostell for a residence. This was the gentleman who conducted poor Mary of Scots from

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Tutbury Tutbury is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It is north of Burton upon Trent and south of the Peak District. The village has a population of about 3,076 residents. It adjoins Hatton to the north on the Staffordshire–Derby ...

." The story of the Gargraves became an oft-cited tale of the rise – and fall – of ambition. Of the Gargraves, it is said, the poet Byron was moved to write: "'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace, Each step from splendour to disgrace." The bulk of the Gargrave properties passed to Thomas Gargrave, eldest son of Sir Cotton Gargrave, who left them to his only daughter, who broke with the family's

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

sympathies by marrying Dr. Richard Berry, physician to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

. "Berry," according to one early history, "contrived to make himself master of their fortune, and the whole family sunk into obscurity." No less an authority than Sir

Bernard Burke Sir John Bernard Burke, (5 January 1814 – 12 December 1892) was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms, who helped publish ''Burke's Peerage''. Personal life Burke, of Irish descent, was born at London and was educated in London an ...

, in his ''Vicissitudes of Families'', was moved by the Gargraves' precipitous fall. "The story of the Gargraves is a melancholy chapter in real life," wrote Burke in the nineteenth century. "For full two centuries or more, scarcely a family in Yorkshire enjoyed a higher position." Subsequently, Sir Thomas Gargrave's oldest son was hanged at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

for murder; his half-brother Sir Richard Gargrave of

, once

, later wasted his estate, and was reduced to gambling for a cup of ale, plunging his family into penury. Sir Richard was eventually found dead in a London flophouse. "Not many years since," Burke wrote, "a Mr. Gargrave, believed to be one of them, filled the mean employment of parish

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

at Kippax." Sir Thomas Gargrave is interred in the south

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

of St Michael and Our Lady Church, within the grounds of Nostell Priory. A monument on his tomb states: "Here lyeth Sir Thomas Gargrave, knight, who dyed the 28 of March, 1579, who served sundry times in the wars and as counsellor at Yorke xxxv yeare. He maryed Anne Cotton of Kent and Jane Appleton, widow of Sir John Wentworth of Elmesall. He had yssue only by Anne Cotton, tow sonnes, Cotton and John, which John dyed att his byrth." On Gargrave's tomb are incised the family's

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

: "On the plate, lozengy ar. and sa. on a bend sa. 3 crescents of the first." Parish Church St Michael and Our Lady Wragby

References

External links

Sir Thomas Gargrave, Illustrations of British History, Biography and Manners, Edmund Lodge, 1838
* ttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wakefield/history/wfdchap8.html Sir Thomas Gargrave, History of Wakefield, 1886br>Vicissitudes of Families, Bernard BurkeThe Pedigree of the Family of Gargrave as Given by Sir Cotton Gargrave, Levett Hanson, Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, Joseph Jackson Howard, 1868 Biography of Thomas Gargrave, Chapters in the History of Yorkshire, James Joel Cartwright, 1872"> Biography of Thomas Gargrave, Chapters in the History of Yorkshire, James Joel Cartwright, 1872
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gargrave, Thomas 1495 births 1579 deaths Members of Gray's Inn People from Wakefield Knights Bachelor High Sheriffs of Yorkshire Members of the Privy Council of England British and English royal favourites 16th-century English people Speakers of the House of Commons of England English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) English MPs 1554–1555 English MPs 1555 English MPs 1559 English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583