Sir Thomas Edmonds (1563 – 20 September 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who served under three successive monarchs, Queen

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. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, Kings James I and Charles I, and occupied the office of Treasurer of the Royal Household from 1618 to 1639.

Origins

He was the fifth son of Thomas Edmonds (d.1604) of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in Devon and of

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

in Cornwall (eldest son of Henry Edmunds of

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

in Wiltshire), Customer of Plymouth in 1564, by his first wife Joane de la Bere, a daughter of Anthony De la Bere of

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

in Dorset.

Career

He is said to have been introduced at court by another namesake, Sir Thomas Edmonds, Comptroller of the household to Queen

, where he received the rudiments of political education from Sir

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, Wa ...

. He was a man of small stature but formidable character: people spoke of "the little man" with respect. In 1592 the queen appointed Edmonds as her agent in France concerning the affairs of the king of Navarre and the

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, in which office he continued until 1596, when the queen appointed him her "secretary of the French tongue". He then returned to Paris in 1597. In 1597 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

in Wiltshire, but as he was abroad the seat was occupied by a proxy. In 1600 he was the queen's ambassador at Brussels and one of the commissioners for the peace conference at

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. In 1601 he was appointed a clerk of the Privy Council, but returned to Paris as minister soon after. He was elected an MP for

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

, Cornwall, in 1601. He was knighted by King James I at Greenwich Palace on 22 May 1603. In 1604 he was sent as ambassador to

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

. Soon after, while still abroad, he was elected a Member of Parliament for Wilton in Wiltshire and was granted the reversion to the office of Clerk of the Crown. He returned to Brussels as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

in 1609, and from 1610 served as ambassador to France for seven years. In 1616 he was appointed

Comptroller of the Royal Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British Royal Households of the United Kingdom, royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptro ...

and in 1618 Treasurer of the Royal Household, a post he held until his death. He was elected as an MP for

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

in 1621, for

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

in February 1624, for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, all in the first Parliament of King Charles I in 1625 and in 1628 for Penrhyn. His final diplomatic service was to return as a special ambassador to France in 1629 to ratify a treaty.

Retirement

On his return to England he retired to Albyns in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, a manor he had inherited from his wife, it was said he employed the architect

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was an English architect who was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmet ...

to rebuild the house. He died on 20 September 1639.

Marriage and progeny

He married Magdalen Wood (died 1614), a daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Wood, Clerk of the Signet. Their children included: *Sir Henry Edmonds,

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

, his heir (a "hopeless drunkard"). *Isabella Edmonds, wife of Henry West, 4th Baron De La Warr *Frances Edmonds, wife of Robert Mildmay, and an ancestor of Baron FitzWalter. His second wife was Sara or Sarah Harington (1565-1628), a daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton and Lucy Sidney, and widow of Francis, Lord Hastings, Sir George Kingsmith, and Edward 11th Baron Zouche. Her portrait was painted by Isaac Oliver and by Cornelius Johnson. The portraits by Johnson show her aged 63 wearing a large miniature case referring to Frederick V of the Palatinate with the Greek letter "phi". A similar miniature case was described in an inventory of a Scottish soldier.Athol Murray, 'Jewels Associated with the Queen of Bohemia', ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', 131 (2001), pp. 328, 343.

References

*J. Palmer, ''A Biographical History of England'' (1824), 86–7. *M. Greengrass, 'Edmonds, Sir Thomas (d. 1639)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200

Retrieved 12 Jan 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, Thomas 1563 births 1639 deaths Treasurers of the Household Clerks of the Privy Council 17th-century English knights Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 Ambassadors of England to France Ambassadors of England to the Habsburg Netherlands 17th-century English diplomats Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Oxford 16th-century English diplomats