Sir John Thynne (21 September 1555 – 21 November 1604) of

Longleat House Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire, ...

, Wiltshire, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. Longleat House 2012

He was the eldest son of

Sir John Thynne Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506 – 1552), and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House, and his descendants became Marquesses of Bath. Early life ...

of Longleat and Christian, the daughter of Sir Richard Gresham, a London mercer and educated at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, graduating BA in 1573. He succeeded his father in 1580, inheriting

, which his father had built, and was knighted in 1603.

Life

He married

Joan Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

, the daughter of Sir Rowland Heyward,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, of

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...

, London, with whom he had two sons. He served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Shropshire and was appointed

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Gov ...

for 1593–94. He was elected a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

for

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neigh ...

in 1584, 1586, 1593, 1597 and 1601, and for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in 1589 and 1604. After he and Joan took

Caus Castle Caus Castle is a ruin of a hill fort and medieval castle in the civil parish of Westbury in the English county of Shropshire. It is situated up on the eastern foothills of the Long Mountain guarding the route from Shrewsbury, Shropshire to Mon ...

by force in 1591, Joan lived at Caus whist John was based at Longleat. The letters between then illustrate their partnership. Joan appears to have managed many aspects of their estate. In 1594 his son and heir Thomas made a secret marriage to Maria Tuchet who was the daughter of George Tuchet, Lord Audley and Lucy Marvyn. This was the family of their enemies: Thomas's grandfather Sir John Thynne had a 15 year feud with Sir

James Marvyn James Marvyn (1529–1611), of Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire, was an English politician. Family He was the eldest son of Sir John Marvyn (1503–1566) of Compton Bassett and Sherborne, Dorset and his first wife Jane, daughter of Phillip Baskerv ...

, Maria's grandfather. Joan was involved with unsuccessful attempts for many years to get that marriage annulled. The story is said to have contributed to the inspiration for

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

''. The dispute over the marriage was resolved in 1601 and when her husband John died in 1604 Longleat went into the hands of her enemy Maria Thynne. He was succeeded by his eldest son

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 Ap ...

and his wife Maria Thynne.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thynne, John 1555 births 1604 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Wiltshire

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 High Sheriffs of Wiltshire