Baron Sir Thomas Street, MP, KB, JP (1625 – 8 March 1696) was an English judge and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who became a Baron of the Exchequer in 1681. He represented Worcester 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. ...

between 1659 and 1679. In 1667, he became the Mayor of Worcester, as his father had been before him. In 1677, he became the Chief Justice of Brecknock, Glamorgan and Radnor. Following

Monmouth's Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, o ...

in 1685, the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

King James II James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was depo ...

took to contravening the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion i ...

and began filling the military high-command with

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, leading to a confrontation with

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

which took shape as the case of Godden v. Hales (1686), to be settled by the King's Bench where Sir Thomas was by then residing. Of the ten judges who composed the last King's Bench before the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Sir Thomas was the only one to rule against

's contravention of the

in 1687, giving rise to his reputation and the

Street family The Street family is an Australian dynasty, founded by the banker and politician John Street and his wife Susanna, the daughter of Australian explorer and politician William Lawson. Their son Sir Philip Whistler Street, grandson Sir Kenneth Wh ...

motto: '' Fideli Cum Fidelis'' ("Faithful Among the Faithless").

Biography

Street was born in Worcester in 1625. His father George Street (1594-1643) was the Mayor of Worcester, his grandfather John Street (d. 1622) was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

of Worcester, and his great-grandfather Francis Streate (d. 1607) was the

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 Worcester. His father George was a cousin of the John Street (1584-1633) who in 1605 killed two of the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

conspirators and was rewarded with a pension "for that extraordinary service performed in killing those two traitors, Piercie and Catesbie, with two bulletts at one shott out of his muskett." Street matriculated at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, t ...

on 22 April 1642, aged 16. He went on to enter

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in November 1646 and was called to the Bar on 24 November 1653. He was a member of the Oxford Circuit. He had his children by Lady Penelope Berkeley before dying in 1696, aged 70.

Career

In 1659, Street was elected

for Worcester in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. Street was re-elected MP for Worcester in 1660 for the Convention Parliament. He was appointed JP for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

on 10 July 1660. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Worcester in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of ...

and sat until 1679. An active member of parliament, Street was appointed to 175 committees, in twelve of which he took the chair, made sixteen recorded speeches, and three times acted as teller. From 1667 to 1677 he was Puisne judge of great sessions and ex officio JP for Brecknock, Glamorgan and Radnor. He became a Bencher of his Inn on 7 November 1669 but was fined £100 for refusing to come up to the bench when called. He became Serjeant at law on 3 July 1677 and was Chief Justice for Brecknock, Glamorgan and Radnor from 1677 to 1681. He became King's Sergeant on 23 October 1678. He was knighted on 8 June 1681 and was a Baron of the Exchequer from April 1681 to 1684. In 1682 he was recorder of Worcester and 1683 recorder of Droitwich 1683. He was a

Justice of the Court of Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" ple ...

from 1684 to 1689. He died in 1696 and was buried in

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

References

External links

Funerary Inscription of Sir Thomas Street
{{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Thomas 1625 births 1696 deaths 17th-century English judges Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Mayors of places in Worcestershire Serjeants-at-law (England) Members of the Parliament of England for Worcester English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 Barons of the Exchequer

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

Biography

Career

See also

References

External links