Baron Sir Thomas Street, MP, KB, JP (1625–1696) was an English politician and judge. He became a

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was ...

in 1681. He represented

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

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 ...

from 1659 to 1679. In 1667, he became the

Mayor of Worcester The Mayor of Worcester is the civic head of Worcester City Council. Every May one of the city Councillors is elected to serve as Mayor for a year. Another is elected as Deputy Mayor. The Mayor chairs meetings of the Full Council, represents the c ...

, 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 in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ireland. Dissident Protestants led by James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, eldest ill ...

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

took to contravening the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of penal laws originating in Restoration England, passed by the Parliament of England, that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Catholics and nonconformist Prote ...

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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

which took shape as the case of Godden v. Hales (1686), which was to be settled by the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court of common law in t ...

. Of the ten judges who constituted the last

before the

Glorious Revolution of 1688 The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, Sir Thomas was the only one to rule against

's contravention of the

in 1687.

Biography

Street was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1625. His father George Street (1594–1643) was the

, his grandfather John Street (d. 1622) was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

, and his great-grandfather Francis Streate (d. 1607) was a Member of Parliament for

. His father George was a cousin of 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 an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

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 a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in November 1646 and was called to the Bar on 24 November 1653. He was a member of the

Oxford Circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

. He had his children by Lady Penelope Berkeley before dying in 1696, aged 70.

Career

In 1659, Street was elected as the Member of Parliament for

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 po ...

. Street was re-elected MP for

in 1660 for the Convention Parliament. He was appointed JP for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

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. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

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 A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

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

from April 1681 to 1684. In 1682 he was

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

and 1683 recorder of Droitwich 1683. He was a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 1684 to 1689. He died in 1696 and was buried in

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England cathedral in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Worcester and is the Mother Church# ...

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 A ...

Biography

Career

See also

References

External links