Sir Thomas Stafford ( – 1655) was an English

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

, politician, and historian of the Irish Wars. He 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 ...

at various times between 1593 and 1625. Stafford was the illegitimate son of Sir George Carew. In 1593, he was elected Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. He was knighted in 1611. By 1619 he was a

Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers. Gen ...

to Queen Anne. In 1621, he was elected MP for

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

. He was elected MP for

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

in 1624. He was also Gentleman Usher to

Queen Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria of France ( French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until his execution on 30 January 1649. She was ...

. History of Parliament Online - Thomas Stafford
/ref> Stafford married Lady Mary Killigrew (''floruit'' 1621–55), widow of Sir Robert Killigrew of St. Margaret Lothbury, London, and daughter of Sir Henry Woodhouse of

Waxham Waxham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sea Palling, in the North Norfolk district, on the north-east coast of the county of Norfolk, England. Buildings in the village include Waxham Hall, the 14th-century St. John's C ...

, after 1633. She was also the niece of

Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under James VI and I, King ...

, a friend of

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

, and Sir Constantijn Huygens. Stafford's will was made in 1653 and proved by his widow in February 1655. He was buried in the same tomb as the Earl of Totnes in the

Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is often known simply as Holy Trinity Church or as Shakes ...

, with a Latin inscription mentioning military service in Ireland.William Dugdale, ''History of Warwickshire'' (London, 1656), p. 518

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Thomas 1570s births 1655 deaths Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall Politicians from Bodmin Politicians from Dorset Politicians from Helston Date of birth unknown English MPs 1593 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 17th-century Irish historians Knights Bachelor 17th-century English knights Burials at Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon