Sir Thomas Soame (1584 – 1 January 1671) was an English politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...
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 his wife Mercy Gray daughter of John Gray of Barley, Hertfordshire. His father was
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...
.
['Salmon - Sykes', The Rulers of London 1660-1689: A biographical record of the Aldermen and Common Councilment of the City of London (1966), pp. 143-159. Date accessed: 13 April 2011]
/ref> He was baptised at St.Mary Colechurch in London on 4 February 1584.
Soame was alderman of Farringdon Without
__NOTOC__
Farringdon Without is the most westerly Ward of the City of London, its suffix ''Without'' reflects its origin as lying beyond the City's former defensive walls. It was first established in 1394 to administer the suburbs west of Ludg ...
ward from 28 July 1635 to 29 January 1639 and in 1635 became Sheriff of London
Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...
. He was Merchant Commissioner of the East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...
from 1640 to 1643.[
In April 1640, Soame 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
for City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
in the Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks.
Af ...
.Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sepa ...
in May 1640 with three other aldermen - Nicholas Rainton
Sir Nicholas Rainton (1569–19 August 1646) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1632.
Life
He was the third son of Robert Rainton of Heighington, Lincolnshire and was baptised in the parish of Washingborough on 10 June 15 ...
, John Gayre and Thomas Atkins - for refusing to list the inhabitants of his ward who were able to contribute £50 or more to a loan for King Charles.[ 'Notes on the aldermen, 1502-1700', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III - 1912 (1908), pp. 168-195. Date accessed: 15 July 2011]
/ref> He was re-elected in MP for the City of London in November 1640 for the Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...
[ He was knighted in at ]Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
on 3 December 1641. He sat in parliament until he was excluded under Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England.
Despite defeat in the ...
in 1648. He became alderman for Vintry
Vintry is one of the 25 wards of the City of London. Located within it is the City end of Southwark Bridge and, adjacent to that, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the City livery company for the wine trade.
The ward's boundary i ...
ward on 29 September 1644 and later moved to Cheap ward where he was discharged by order of House of Commons on 1 Jun 1649. He was restored to his position as Alderman on 25 Sep 1660 and held the position until 22 January 1667 when he was discharged "on account of his great infirmity".[
Soame lived at Throcking and in 1660 rebuilt the upper portion of the church tower.Throcking Holy Trinity Church]
/ref> He died in 1671 and was buried with an inscription in Throcking Church.[
]
Family
Soame was married in 1621 to Joan Freeman, widow of William Freeman of St Michael Cornhill and Aspenden, Hertfordshire. His daughter Anne married Sir Thomas Abdy, 1st Baronet.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soame, Thomas
1584 births
1671 deaths
Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London
English MPs 1640 (April)
English MPs 1640–1648
Sheriffs of the City of London
Prisoners in the Tower of London