Thomas Thynne (died 1639)

For other men of the same name, see Thomas Thynne (disambiguation).
Longleat in the 17th century

Sir Thomas Thynne (ca. 1578–1639), of Longleat, Wiltshire, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1629.

Thynne was the son and heir of Sir John Thynne of Longleat, a knight of the shire,[1] and Joan Hayward, daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward, a Lord Mayor of London.[2]

Thynne first made his mark in May 1594, at the age of sixteen, when he clandestinely married Maria (or Mary) Touchet, also sixteen, a gentlewoman at the court of Queen Elizabeth and a daughter of Lord Audley. The two were married on the day they first met[3] and for some time kept their marriage secret because their fathers were bitterly opposed to each other. When their story became known, Thynne's father, John Thynne the Younger, tried unsuccessfully to have the marriage annulled. The story is said to have contributed to the inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.[4] With Maria, Thynne had three sons, before his wife died in childbirth. Two of these sons survived childhood, James Thynne (died 1670) and Sir Thomas Thynne.[5][6]

Maria's surviving correspondence between 1595 and 1611 was published by the Wiltshire Record Society in 1983 under the title Two Elizabethan Women: correspondence of Joan and Maria Thynne.[6] After the death of Maria in 1611, Thynne married secondly Catherine Howard, a daughter of Hon. Charles Howard, son of the first Viscount Howard and niece of Lord Howard of Bindon. With her he had further sons, including Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet (1615–1680), ancestor of the Marquesses of Bath.[2][5]

In 1601 Thynne was elected Member of Parliament for Hindon. He was re-elected MP for Hindon in 1604. In the same year, he succeeded his father to the family estates and on his father's death he had himself returned at a by-election for the county of Wiltshire. However, this election was disallowed by the Commons on the grounds that a sitting member was not eligible to be returned for a second constituency. Thynne was High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1607–08.[7] In 1621 he was elected for MP Heytesbury and was re-elected MP for Heytesbury in 1624. He was elected MP for Hindon again in 1625 and was re-elected MP for Hindon in 1626 and 1628.

Among the estates Thynne inherited was one at Kempsford in Gloucestershire, where he built a new country house, demolishing an important fortified manor house which since the 13th century had defended a crossing of the River Thames.[8]

Thynne died on 1 August 1639. Among his many descendants are Diana, Princess of Wales, and her sons William and Harry.[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ 'Parliamentary history : 1529–1629', in A History of the County of Wiltshire, vol. 5 (1957), pp. 111–132, accessed 7 July 2011
  2. 1 2 Sir Thomas Thynne at thepeerage.com, accessed 7 July 2011
  3. ↑ David Booy, Personal disclosures: an anthology of self-writings from the seventeenth century (2002), p. 41: "Maria Touchet (c. 1578–1611), the daughter of Lord Audley, married Thomas Thynne, the heir to Longleat, on the day she first met him, 16 May 1594. They were both 16."
  4. ↑ Cathy Hartley (15 April 2013). A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Routledge. p. 428. ISBN 978-1-135-35533-3.
  5. 1 2 Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition (Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), vol. 1, p. 212
  6. 1 2 Alison D. Wall, ed., Two Elizabethan Women: correspondence of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575–1611 (Wiltshire Record Society, vol. 38, 1983)
  7. 1 2 Richard K. Evans, The Ancestry of Diana, Princess of Wales, for twelve generations (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007): "Nr. 4152: Sir Thomas Thynne, M.P. 1601, 1604, 1621, 1624, 1625, 1626 and 1628, Sheriff of Wiltshire 1607–8, etc, born ca. 1578 and died 1 August 1639."
  8. ↑ Anthony Emery, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Southern England, p. 132
Parliament of England
Preceded by
Francis Zouche
Abraham Hartwell		 Member of Parliament for Hindon
1601–1611
With: Sir George Paule 1601
Sir Edmund Ludlow		 Succeeded by
Sir Edmund Ludlow
Sir Edwin Sandys
Preceded by
Sir Henry Ludlow
Walter Gowen		 Member of Parliament for Heytesbury
1621–1624
With: Sir Henry Ludlow		 Succeeded by
Sir Charles Berkeley
Edward Bysshe
Preceded by
Lawrence Hyde
Matthew Davies		 Member of Parliament for Hindon
1625–1629
With: William Lambert 1625
Thomas Lambert 1626
Lawrence Hyde 1628–1629		 Succeeded by
Parliament suspended until 1640


  1. ↑ Burke, Sir Bernard, (1938 ed) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Shaw, London. p.243
  2. 1 2 3 Woodfall, H. (1768). The Peerage of England; Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom Etc. Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected, and Continued to the Present Time, Volume 6. p. 258.
  3. 1 2  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Thynne, William". Dictionary of National Biography 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. ↑ Girouard, Mark, Thynne, Sir John (1515–1580), estate manager and builder of Longleat in Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)
  5. ↑ Booth, Muriel. "THYNNE, John (?1550-1604), of Longleat, Wilts.". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Lancaster, Henry; Thrush, Andrew. "THYNNE, Charles (c.1568-1652), of Cheddar, Som.". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Rugh, R. B.; Critall, Elizabeth. "'Parliamentary history : 1529-1629', in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 5". British History Online. Victoria County History. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Ferris, John P. "THYNNE, Sir James (c.1605-70), of Longbridge Deverill, Wilts.". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Helms, M. W.; Ferris, John P. "THYNNE, Sir Thomas (c.1610-c.69), of Richmond, Surr.". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Marshall, Alan. "Thynne, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 January 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ Heath-Caldwell, J. J. "Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, 3rd Viscount Weymouth". JJ Heath-Caldwell. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Hayton, D. W. "THYNNE, Hon. Henry (1675-1708).". The History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Dunaway, Stewart (2013). Lord John Carteret, Earl Granville - His Life History and the Granville Grants. Lulu. p. 33. ISBN 9781300878070.
  14. ↑ "Bath, Thomas Thynne". Encyclopedia Britannica 1911. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Thorne, Roland. "Carteret [formerly Thynne], Henry Frederick". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Escott, Margaret. "THYNNE, Lord Henry Frederick (1797-1837), of 6 Grovesnor Square, Mdx.". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896), Diplomat and landowner". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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