Sir Thomas Spencer, 1st Baronet (c. 1586 - 7 August 1622) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1604 to 1611. Yarnton Manor east

Spencer was the son of Sir William Spencer, of

Yarnton Yarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southwest of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,545. Archaeology Early Bronze Age decorated beakers have been found in the pa ...

, Oxfordshire, and his wife Margaret Bowyer, daughter of Francis Bowyer, Alderman of London. He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 8 June 1599, aged 13 and was awarded BA on 18 June 1602. In 1604 he was elected

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 o ...

for

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

. He was also a student of Lincoln's Inn in 1604George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage Volume 1'' 1900
/ref> and in December was one of the keepers of writs and rolls in the court of common pleas.W. R. Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the County of Oxford''
/ref> He succeeded to Yarnton on the death of his father in 1608 or 1609 and had Yarnton

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

, a large Jacobean

country mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

, built in 1611. He was created

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 14t ...

of Yardington on 29 June 1611 and was knighted on 4 May 1612, at Whitehall. From 1616 to 1617 he was Sheriff of Oxfordshire. He was famous for his hospitality and rebuilt the tower at the west end of Yarnton Church. Spencer died at the age of about 36 and was buried at Yarnton on 18 August 1622. Spencer married Margaret Brainthwait, daughter of Richard Brainthwait, Serjeant at Law in about 1605. After her husband's death, she married as his third wife

Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret (1578–1651) was the son of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and Grany or Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory. He is best known for his participation in the Irish Confed ...

after 1625. She died at St. Giles' in the Fields on 16 December 1655 and was buried at Yarnton on 21 December.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Thomas 1580s births 1622 deaths English MPs 1604–1611 Baronets in the Baronetage of England English landowners