Thomas Archbold, or Thomas Galmole (died after 1506) was a goldsmith and silver worker, who evidently qualified as a lawyer, and rose to become a senior Crown official and
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
in Ireland in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was Master of the Mint in Ireland for many years.
[
]
Background
He was born in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, to a family with a long connection to the city. The Archbold family were among the earliest English settlers in Ireland. William Archbold, a senior member of the Royal household who was appointed one of the Irish Barons of the Exchequer
The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...
in 1378,[ was his ancestor. A royal ]writ
In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...
of 1400, concerning the appointment of one William Archbold (probably either the judge, or his son) as Constable of the fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
of Newcastle Mackynegan in County Wicklow, names no less than five members of the Archbold family, all living in Dublin, as sureties
In finance, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay ...
for his good conduct.[''Patent Roll 1 Henry IV''] Richard Archbold, Constable of Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin.
Until 1922 it was the se ...
in the 1480s, may also have been a relative of Thomas. Although the sources are clear that he was a member of the Archbold family of Dublin, he was also called Thomas Galmole.[''Statute 18 Edward IV'']
Thomas was a goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
by profession.[ He was described as a "master and worker of money in ]silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
".[Strickland, Walter ''A Dictionary of Irish Artists'' 1913]He is first heard of in 1465 when he was having great difficulty collecting a debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
: according to Elrington Ball, he had to make forty journeys between Dublin and County Meath
County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...
in pursuit of it.[Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p.185] Presumably this was a business debt, rather than a Crown one. He had workshops in both Dublin and Waterford.[
]
The Grey controversy
He was appointed Attorney General for Ireland
The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the es ...
, or Narrator Regis,[ in 1478 (presumably, although the ]Patent Rolls
The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day.
Description
The patent rolls comprise a register ...
state clearly that he was a goldsmith,[ he had also acquired some legal qualifications) and in the same year he was made Master of the ]Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
in Ireland,[ an appointment confirmed by a ]statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
of the Irish Parliament.[''Statute 18 Edward IV "Confirmation of the appointment of Thomas Archbold, alias Thomas Galmole, as Master of the Mint in Ireland"''] An exception was made for Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
, where Walter Marshall had the title Marshal Master of the Mint.[''Patent Roll 19 Edward IV ''] In 1483 Archbold was ordered to produce a new Irish coinage
Coinage may refer to:
* Coins, standardized as currency
* Neologism, coinage of a new word
* ''COINage'', numismatics magazine
* Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin
* Protologism, coinage of a seldom used new term
See also
* Coining (disambiguatio ...
of pennies and halfpennies bearing the King's head on one side, and the Irish harp
The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great ...
on the other.[
As Master of the Mint he was soon drawn into a major political controversy when Lord Portlester, the ]Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...
, refused to hand over the Great Seal of Ireland
The Great Seal of Ireland was the seal used until 1922 by the Dublin Castle administration to authenticate important state documents in Ireland, in the same manner as the Great Seal of the Realm in England. The Great Seal of Ireland was used fro ...
to Lord Grey of Codnor, the newly-appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...
: this was part of a comprehensive challenge by the Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
ruling class to Grey's authority, which they saw as a threat to their own power. King Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
tried to resolve the problem by ordering Archbold to issue a new Great Seal "as near the pattern and fabric of the other Seal as possible, with the addition of a rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
", and declaring that the Seal held by Portlester was declared to be "damned, annulled and suspended", while all his acts as Lord Chancellor were "utterly repudiated". Portlester and his allies, undeterred, continued their defiance of Lord Grey, who, despairing of being able to establish his authority, left Ireland within the year.Alfred Webb
Alfred John Webb (10 June 1834 – 30 July 1908) was an Irish Quaker from a family of activist printers. He became an Irish Parliamentary Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP), as well as a participant in nationalist movements around th ...
''A Compendium of Irish Biography
Alfred John Webb (10 June 1834 – 30 July 1908) was an Irish Quaker from a family of activist printers. He became an Irish Parliamentary Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP), as well as a participant in nationalist movements around t ...
'' (Dublin 1878)[ He acted as Deputy ]Master of the Rolls in Ireland
The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respons ...
to Thomas Dowdall
Thomas Patrick Dowdall (1872 – 7 April 1942) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and company director.
Early life
He was born at Chatham Barracks, Gillingham, Kent, the son of Charles Dowdall, colour sergeant in the 48th foot, and Margare ...
in 1479, when Dowdall was in England on official business.[Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officer of Ireland'' Dublin 1839 p.54] He continued in office as Master of the Mint.[
]
Simnel's Rebellion
Like almost all of the Anglo-Irish ruling class, he supported the claim of the pretender
A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...
Lambert Simnel
Lambert Simnel (c. 1477 – after 1534) was a pretender to the throne of England. In 1487, his claim to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, threatened the newly established reign of Henry VII (1485–1509). Simnel became the f ...
to the English Crown
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...
in 1487. Simnel's attempt to seize the throne ended with his crushing defeat at the Battle of Stoke Field
The Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487 may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims derived from descent from the houses of Lancaster and Yo ...
. The victorious King, Henry VII, was merciful to the Irish rebels, as he was to Simnel himself, who was taken into the Royal Household as a servant: nearly all the rebels received a royal pardon
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...
the following year, including Archbold, who was restored to his seat on the Court of Exchequer at the same time.[
He was reappointed Master of the Mint in 1506, with power to act through a Deputy, possibly because of his advancing age.][''Patent Rolls 21 Henry VII 6 July 1506'']
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archbold, Thomas
Attorneys-General for Ireland
Lawyers from Dublin (city)
1488 deaths
Barons of the Irish Exchequer