Sir Thomas Gower, 2nd Baronet (c. 1605–1672) was an English nobleman, politician, and knight. He was a member of the

Leveson-Gower family Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duked ...

. He twice served as

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere ...

and supported the Royalist cause during 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 ...

Biography

Gower was knighted at Whitehall on 24 June 1630, and succeeded his father, Sir Thomas Gower, 1st Baronet, in his estate, and title of Baronet. He was a sufferer for 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 ...

, having been twice

(1641 and 1662), and attended on the King when he was shut out of Hull. He raised a regiment of dragoons at his own expense, of which his younger brother, Doyley was colonel.Collins (1812)
p. 445
/ref> After the Restoration he served in Parliament as Member for Malton from 1661 until his death in 1672.

Family

Gower had two wives, first, Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Sir William Howard of Naworth Castle, sister to Charles Earl of Carlisle, and second, Frances Leveson, daughter and coheir of Sir John Leveson, of Halling in Kent, and of Lilleshall in Shropshire, by Frances his wife, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Sondes, of Throwley in Kent, (elder brother of Sir Michael Sondes, who was grandfather to

George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham Sir George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham KB (November 1599 – 16 April 1677) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1626 and 1676 and was then created a peer and member of the House of Lords. Life So ...

) by Margaret, sister of

Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham KG (22 November 1564 – 24 January 1618 ( Old Style)/3 February 1618 ( New Style), lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was an English peer who was implicated in the Main Plot against the rule of James I of Engla ...

. By which last Lady, this Sir Thomas Gower had two sons, Edward, and Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet, ancestor to George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford; also a daughter Frances; but by his first wife he had no issue.

Notes

References

*Collins, Arthur (1812). ''Collins's peerage of England: genealogical, biographical, and historical'', Volume 2, Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and Son, J. Nichols and Co. T. Payne, Wilkie and Robinson, J. Walker, ... nd 21 others 1812 * Sanford, John Langton and Townsend, Meredith White (1865). ''The great governing families of England'', Volume 1, W. Blackwood and sons, 1865 ;Attribution

Biography

Family

Notes

References

Further reading