Sir Thomas Heneage PC (1532 – 17 October 1595) was an English politician and courtier at the court of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

Early and personal life

Thomas Heneage the Younger was born at

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, Epping,

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, the son of Sir Robert Heneage and Lucy Buckton. Robert and his brother Thomas were members of Henry VIII's

Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

, the latter holding the important office of Groom of the Stool. Thomas Heneage was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge. In 1554 Heneage married Anne Poyntz, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Joan Berkeley. Their only daughter

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

married Sir Moyle Finch, Bt and was created Countess of Winchilsea. Following Anne's death in 1593, he married Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton on 2 May 1594; this marriage was childless.

Career

Heneage was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Stamford in 1553, before sitting for Arundel from 1559. He was then elected for

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in 1563 but chose to sit for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. He was again returned for Lincolnshire in 1571 and 1572, and for

in 1584, 1586, 1589, and 1593. He became a courtier under

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Retrieved 10-08-2009 He became a

Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

about 1565 at around that time, she flirted with him, making her

favourite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated s ...

, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, jealous. However, Heneage had so far been on good terms with Leicester and the Earl, in his 1587 will, called him "my good old friend". In 1570 he rose to Treasurer of the Queen's Privy Chamber, and was knighted in 1577. In 1586, Heneage was sent by the Queen to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He was to convey to the

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her strong protest of the Earl of Leicester having accepted their offer of the title Governor-General. Heneage read out publicly Elizabeth's letters of disapproval before the Dutch politicians, Leicester, their new Governor General, having to stand nearby. He became Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and was sworn of the Privy Council of England in 1587, before being appointed

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

in 1590. He was also a friend of

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

.Hutchinson p. 354 and a colleague of Sir Christopher Hatton acting as an intermediary between the Queen and Hatton regarding rivalry between Hatton and Sir Walter Raleigh for the Queen's affections. Heneage died on 17 October 1595 and was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral. His grave and monument were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. A modern monument in the crypt of the rebuilt cathedral lists him as one of the important graves lost."Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p99: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909

Notes

* Deacon. M. p32 etc.

References

*Chamberlin, Frederick: ''Elizabeth and Leycester'' Dodd, Mead & Co. 1939 *Hutchinson, Robert: ''Elizabeth's Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that saved England'' Phoenix 2007 *Wilson, Derek: ''Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533–1588'' Hamish Hamilton 1981 *Deacon, Malcolm: ''The Courtier and the Queen: Sir Christopher Hatton & Elizabeth I'' Park Lane Publishing 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heneage, Thomas Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 1532 births 1595 deaths Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of England People from Epping English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1559 English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Burials at St Paul's Cathedral Court of Henry VIII