Thomas Atkins was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and an English 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 ...

in 1640 and from 1647 to 1653 and was

in 1644. He supported the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Biography

Atkins was the son of John Atkins of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, Norfolk. He was an alderman of Norwich, and then an alderman of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

for Bridge Without, from Lime Street. He was

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

in 1637, John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 4 "> John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 4
/ref> and colonel of the Red Regiment, London Trained Bands, in 1642. In April 1640, Atkins was elected member of parliament for

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

in May 1640 with three other aldermen – Nicholas Rainton,

Thomas Soame Sir Thomas Soame (1584 – 1 January 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648. Life Soame was the son of Sir Stephen Soame and his wife Anne Stone daughter of William Stone, haberdasher of London and ...

and John Gayre – for refusing to list the inhabitants of his ward who were able to contribute £50 or more to a loan for King Charles. During the Civil War he was colonel of the Norwich city militia. He was

in 1644. In 1647 Atkins was re-elected MP for Norwich for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

and sat until 1653. On Thursday, 7 January 1649, he delivered a solemn thanksgiving to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

and also issued a Hosannah on 7 June 1649. He was a "busy stickler for independency and republicanism", and the principal tool by which the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament describes the members of the Long Parliament who remained in session after Colonel Thomas Pride, on 6 December 1648, commanded his soldiers to Pride's Purge, purge the House of Commons of those Members of Parliament, members ...

managed the common council of London. Atkkins was knighted by the Lord Protector

on 5 December 1657 (the title passed into oblivion at the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660). He was Father of the City in 1658 and was discharged from his position as Alderman on 12 February 1661.'Fathers of the City', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III – 1912 (1908), pp. 250-254. Date accessed: 4 March 2011
/ref>

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Thomas Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Sheriffs of the City of London 17th-century lord mayors of London Roundheads London Trained Bands officers English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1648–1653 Prisoners in the Tower of London