Sir Thomas Tresham (died 8 March 1559) was a leading

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during the middle of the

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in England.

Family

Thomas Tresham was the eldest son of John Tresham of Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, and Elizabeth Harrington, daughter of Sir James Harrington, of Hornby, Lancashire.

Career

Tresham was

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by 1524. He was chosen

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in 1524, 1539, 1548 and 1555/6, and returned as a Member of Parliament for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

in 1541 and twice in 1554. In 1530 he served on a

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inquiring into

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's possessions. In 1537 he served on another to inquire into the Lincolnshire rebellion. In 1539 he was one of those appointed to receive

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's future fourth wife,

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, at

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. In 1540, he had licence to impark the Lyveden estate in the Aldwinkle St Peter's parish, where the " New Bield" erected by his grandson Thomas Tresham II still stands. In the same year, although his main estates were in Northamptonshire, it was noted that he had a house with twenty-nine household servants at Wolfeton in Charminster,

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. In 1544 he supplied men for the king's army in France, and a little later was one of the commissioners to collect the " benevolence" for the defense of the realm. In 1546 he was appointed assessor to the "Contribution Commission", and was summoned to Court to meet the French ambassador. In 1549 he assisted in suppressing

Kett's Rebellion Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in the English county of Norfolk during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land. It began at Wymondham on 8 July 1549 with a group of rebels destroying fences that had been put up by wealt ...

, and received £272, 19.6 for his services. On 18 July 1553, he proclaimed Queen Mary at

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, and accompanied her on her entry into London. He was one of those appointed on 3 August 1553, "to staye the assemblies in Royston and other places of Cambridgeshire". That year he was also MP for Lancaster. He was named Grand Prior of England in the Order of Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem by Royal Charter dated 2 April 1557, qualifying him for a seat in the House of Lords. It was not till 30 November that the order was re-established in England with four knights under him, and he was solemnly invested. In the meantime, Sir Richard Shelley had been made turcopolier at

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. The order was endowed by the queen with lands to the yearly value of £1436. He took his seat in the House of Lords in January, 1557–58, but sent a proxy to the first parliament of Queen Elizabeth, possibly due to illness. He died in 1559. He was buried at All Saints Church, Rushton, Northamptonshire with great pomp on 16 March 1559.

Marriages and issue

He married firstly Mary Parr, youngest daughter and co-heir of William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton, by whom he had three sons:Some sources state that it was Anne Parr who married Tresham. However, according to Douglas Richardson, Anne was married to Sir John Digby. *John Tresham, who died in the lifetime of his father. His son, also named Sir Thomas Tresham, succeeded his grandfather. *William Tresham. He married, secondly, Lettice Peniston, widow, successively, of Sir Robert Knollys and Sir Robert Lee (d. 1539), and daughter of Sir Thomas Peniston of Hawridge. She predeceased him without issue.''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509–1558'', ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982. TRESHAM, Sir Thomas (by 1500–59), of Rushton, Northants
''History of Parliament Online''
Accessed 4 December 2022.

References

History of Parliament TRESHAM, Sir Thomas (by 1500–59) of Rushton, Nortants
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tresham, Thomas 2 Year of birth missing 1559 deaths People from North Northamptonshire English knights High sheriffs of Northamptonshire English MPs 1539–1540 English MPs 1542–1544 English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1554 English MPs 1554–1555 Knights Bachelor