Thomas Waite, (died 1688 in Jersey) also known as Thomas Wayte was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
, a Member of Parliament for
Rutland
Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Rutland has a ...
, and one of the
regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
s of King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
.
Waite was probably the son of Henry Waite of
Wymondham, Leicestershire
Wymondham (pronounced, phonetically, ) is a village in the Borough of Melton in Leicestershire, England. It is part of a civil parish which also covers the nearby hamlet of Edmondthorpe. The parish has a population of 623, increasing to 632 a ...
; but some royalist sources said he was the son of an alehouse keeper in
Market Overton
Market Overton is a village on the northern edge of the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish (including Teigh) was 494 at the 2001 census, increasing to 584 at the 2011 census.
History
The villa ...
in
Rutland
Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Rutland has a ...
.
He was admitted to
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
in 1634. He was
Sheriff of Rutland
This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Rutland.
The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown: there has been a Sheriff of Rutland since 1129. Formerly the sheriff was the principal law enforcement offic ...
in 1641. Going into the Parliament army, he made such good use of his time, that he obtained a colonel's commission, and a seat in the
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...
. In 1643, he beat up the king's quarters near
Burley House
Burley House, Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland, England is a 17th-century country house built for Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham. Although Finch sought advice on the house from such as Christopher Wren, he appears to have acted as his own arch ...
; at this time he was a colonel, and probably then, or immediately after, became, in consequence of it, governor of
Burley-on-the-Hill, in Rutland.
[Noble]
p.310
/ref>
Waite wrote to Parliament in 1648, that he had fallen upon those who had made an insurrection at Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber ...
, and, at Woodcroft Castle
Woodcroft Castle is a moated medieval castle in the parish of Etton, Cambridgeshire, England.
History
Woodcroft Castle was built at the end of the 13th century near the city of Peterborough in the Soke of Peterborough (now in Cambridgeshire). ...
, had killed Dr Hudson, who had commanded those forces, with some others, and taken many prisoners, but had dismissed the countrymen. The House replied with their thanks, and ordered that the general should send him a commission to try the prisoners by martial law. Soon afterwards he reported the defeat and capture of the Duke of Hamilton
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...
.[
As one of the army-grandees, Waite was one of the 59 Commissioners who sat in judgment at the ]trial of Charles I
The trial of Charles I was a significant event in English history that took place in January 1649, marking the first time a reigning monarch was tried and executed by his own subjects. Following years of conflict during the English Civil War, ...
. He attended the trial on 25, 26, and 27 January 1649, the first two in the Painted Chamber
The Painted Chamber was part of the medieval Palace of Westminster. It was gutted by fire in 1834, and has been described as "perhaps the greatest artistic treasure lost in the fire". The room was re-roofed and re-furnished to be used temporar ...
, and in the last of these in Westminster Hall
Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...
, when sentence was pronounced against Charles, and he signed and sealed that instrument, which commanded Charles to execution.
After this event, we hear nothing of Waite, until the restoration; he seems neglected by Parliament, and totally given up by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
, when he became Lord Protector
Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
, who even omitted his name as one of the committee for Rutland, which he had enjoyed during the first Commonwealth.[Noble, p. 311] In 1650, he acquired the Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There were creations of double dukedoms of Bucki ...
's Rutland estates. On 13 March 1654 his tenants at Hambleton, Rutland
Hambleton is a village and civil parish in Rutland, England. It is about two miles (3 km) east of Oakham. The village now stands on the Hambleton Peninsula between arms of the Rutland Water reservoir. Hambleton Hall is a prominent hotel. ...
petitioned the council of state complaining of Waite doubling their rents, diverting their water supply, enclosing their commons, and endeavouring to evict eighty families.
He was not granted a general pardon under the Act of Indemnity, and having surrendered himself, was brought to the bar, at the Session's House, in the Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
, 10 October 1660. He was extremely troublesome to the court at his arraignment as he would not plead guilty or not guilty when asked to do so and prevaricated. At his trial he was found guilty of regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as the court decided that he had been forced by Cromwell and Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton (baptised 3 November 1611; died 26 November 1651) was an English general in the Parliamentarian army during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and a son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. He died of disease outside Limerick in November 165 ...
into agreeing to the Kings execution, to such a degree that Cromwell had guided Waite's hand when he signed the death warrant.[Noble, pp. 311–317] Waite's wife, Jane, unsuccessfully petitioned for his release for the sake of their five children and Wayte was imprisoned in Mont Orgueil Castle
Mont Orgueil (; French for 'Mount Pride') is a castle in Jersey that overlooks the harbour of Gorey; a port on the east coast of the Island. It is known as Gorey Castle by English-speakers, and the "Old Castle" () by Jèrriais-speakers. The castl ...
on Jersey. He was buried at Saint Saviour, Jersey
St Saviour (Jèrriais: ; ) is a Parishes of Jersey, parish of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is located directly east of St Helier. It has a population of 13,580. It has a land surface area of 3.6 square miles (9.3 km2) and has a very small c ...
on 18 October 1688.[Balleine, p. 148. "Thomas Wayte was buried at St Saviour on 18 October 1688"]
Notes
References
*George Reginald Balleine,''et al.''. ''Balleine's History of Jersey '', Phillimore, 1981, ,
*Raoul Lemprière. ''History of the Channel Islands'', R. Hale, 1974
*Mark Noble
Mark James Noble (born 8 May 1987) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the sporting director of Premier League club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. A fan of the c ...
. ''The lives of the English regicides: and other commissioners of the pretended High court of justice, appointed to sit in judgement upon their sovereign, King Charles the First'' Volume II, J. Stockdale, 1798
Baptism Records Wymondham, Leicestershire, Wills of Thomas Waite, John Waite, and Henry Waite of Wymondham, Leicestershire. Will of Theodore Gulston MD of London.
;Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wayte, Thomas
High sheriffs of Rutland
Regicides of Charles I
People from Burley, Rutland
1688 deaths
Year of birth unknown
English MPs 1640–1648
English politicians convicted of crimes
People from Wymondham, Leicestershire