Henry Tooley (d. 1551) was a

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

merchant. Alive during the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

, by the time of his death he was one of the richest businessmen in the town of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. He was closely associated with the fellow merchant and Member of Parliament for

, Robert Daundy. His trade network extended Biscayan ports, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

as well as including much of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

east of line drawn between

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

and

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

– and the highly populated and industry towns of south Suffolk in particular.

Early life

Two locations have been put forward for the origin of his family:

Corton, Suffolk Corton is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north of the centre of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district. The village is on the North Sea coast with the county border with Norfolk to the north. ...

Catton, Norfolk Old Catton is a suburban village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk which lies to the north-east of central Norwich. The parish is bounded by the Norwich International Airport at Hellesdon to the west and Sprowston to the east. T ...

. He was born in the last quarter of the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

. Traditional accounts claim he was born in the house which became the Ram Inn. He probably completed an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

, but there is no mention of him in the records until 1499 when 'Henry Toly' is mentioned occupying some land near the river in Ipswich. His biographer, John Webb, suggests that he worked as a

factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...

with at least one established merchant before engaging in trade on his own account.

Family life

Henry had two sisters: Joan (born c 1470) who first married someone about whom little is known. He may have had some connection with Thomas Ufford, one of the bailiffs of Yarmouth in 1510. When she remarried, her husband was Ralph Dene, who himself was three times a bailiff of Yarmouth (1517, 1526 and 1536) and died in 1543. A second sister, Margaret (or Maud), married William Rede of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is located along the A145 r ...

. In 1541 Rede was assigned the manor and advowson of Beccles, which had previously been in the hands of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. The last Abbot, John Reeve relinquished control in 1539 and then died 1540 before the property was transferred. Their son, also called William, was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1509 inherited the manor and advowson and married Anne Ferneley. a niece of Edmund Daundy. After William's death in 1552, she married Sir

Thomas Gresham Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579) was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 Gr ...

, founder of the Royal Exchange in

Legacies

He left two testaments to his lucrative career as a merchant the Tooley Almshouses and the account books preserved in the Suffolk Record Office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tooley, Henry 1551 deaths 16th-century English businesspeople