Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586 – 24 February 1667/1668) was the

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

from 1654 to 1655 and 1656–1658. Adams was born in 1586, at Wem,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

and admitted as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

Sidney Sussex College Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1600. He received his BA in 1605–6, and became a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Civic career

In 1640, he was elected as

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, giving up his business, and applying himself to public affairs. He then served as Master of the

Drapers' Company The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It has the formal name The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Dr ...

, sat as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

on the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

, and was president of

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

, which he probably saved from ruin, by discovering the frauds of a dishonest steward. In 1642 he became Colonel of the Blue Regiment, London Trained Bands. In 1645, he was elected

, showing unusual disinterestedness, declining the financial advantages usually made by the sale of places which become vacant. His loyalty to

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 ...

was so well known that at the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

his house was searched by parliamentary supporters, hoping to find the king there. The next year he was committed to the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, and detained for some time. However, at length he became the oldest alderman upon the bench, and was consequently dignified with the honourable title of father of the city. Sir Thomas sat as an MP for

from 1654 to 1655 and 1656–1658. His affection for the king was such that during the exile of Charles II, he remitted him £10,000.Equivalent to £817,747.40 in 2005 using the retail price index according t
www.measuringworth.com
/ref> On the restoration of the King Sir Thomas, then 74 years of age, was deputed by the city to accompany

General Monck George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cru ...

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, to accompany the king home. For his services the king knighted him at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

; and soon after the restoration advanced him to the dignity of a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, on 13 June 1661.

Later life

In his latter years he was afflicted with

kidney stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

s, which hastened his death. After his death a stone was taken from his body, weighing 25 ounces (1.5 lb, or 0.7 kg), which is preserved in a laboratory at Cambridge. He seemed perfectly prepared for death, often saying ''"Solum mihi superest sepulchrum"'' (''"All my business is to fit me for the grave"''). His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Hardy, at

St Katherine Cree The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree is an Anglican church in the Aldgate ward of the City of London, on the north side of Leadenhall Street near Leadenhall Market. It was founded in 1280. The present building dates from 1628 to 1630. Formerly a ...

Church, before his children and many of his relations. He was buried in a barrel vault excavated under the altar of St Mary and St Margaret Church,

Sprowston Sprowston ( or ) is a small suburban town bordering Norwich in Norfolk, England. It is bounded by Heartsease to the east, Mousehold Heath and the suburb of New Sprowston to the south (in Norwich), Old Catton to the west, and by the open farmland ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, and a large marble monument was erected above it. His descendants enjoyed the title down to Sir Thomas Adams, the sixth baronet, who died a captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1770.

Legacy

Renowned as a public benefactor, in his lifetime Sir Thomas gave his house at Wem as a free-school ( Thomas Adams School) to the town, and endowed it; he founded an Arabic professorship at Cambridge in 1643, and paid for the printing of

the Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and for sending them into the east. Despite suffering great losses in his estate, he left legacies to the poor of many parishes, to hospitals, and ministers' widows in his will. His title and Sprowston estate passed to his eldest son William (1634–1687). His second son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

is remembered for a collection of verse.

Sources

* Chalmers, Alexander. ''The General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the most Eminent Persons in Every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; from the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time''. new ed. rev. and enl. London: Nichols

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

1812–1817. 32 vols. * Keith Roberts, ''London And Liberty: Ensigns of the London Trained Bands'', Eastwood, Nottinghamshire: Partizan Press, 1987, ISBN 0-946525-16-1.

External links

*
British Civil War Project

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Thomas 1586 births 1660s deaths Year of death uncertain People educated at Shrewsbury School Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sheriffs of the City of London 17th-century lord mayors of London London Trained Bands officers Baronets in the Baronetage of England People from Wem Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London Prisoners in the Tower of London People from Sprowston English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658