Thomas Atkins was

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 ...

and an English 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. ...

in 1640 and from 1647 to 1653 and was

in 1644. He supported the

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

cause in 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

Atkins was the son of John Atkins of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

, Norfolk. He was an alderman of Norwich, and then an alderman of 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 ...

for Bridge Without, from Lime Street. He was

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

in 1637, John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 4 "> John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great ..., Volume 4
/ref> and colonel of the Red Regiment, London Trained Bands, in 1642. In April 1640, Atkins 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 of ...

for

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

in May 1640 with three other aldermen –

Nicholas Rainton Sir Nicholas Rainton (1569–19 August 1646) was an English merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1632. Life He was the third son of Robert Rainton of Heighington, Lincolnshire and was baptised in the parish of Washingborough on 10 June 15 ...

Thomas Soame Sir Thomas Soame (1584 – 1 January 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648. Life Soame was the son of Sir Stephen Soame and his wife Anne Stone daughter of William Stone, haberdasher of London and ...

and John Gayre – for refusing to list the inhabitants of his ward who were able to contribute £50 or more to a loan for King Charles. 'Notes on the aldermen, 1502-1700', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III – 1912 (1908), pp. 168-195. Date accessed: 15 July 2011
/ref> During the Civil War he was colonel of the Norwich city militia. He was

in 1644. In 1647 Atkins was re-elected MP for Norwich for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

and sat until 1653. On Thursday, 7 January 1649, he delivered a solemn thanksgiving to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

and also issued a Hosannah on 7 June 1649. He was a "busy stickler for independency and republicanism", and the principal tool by which the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

managed the common council of London. Atkkins was knighted by the Lord Protector

on 5 December 1657 (the title passed into

oblivion Oblivion may refer to: Film * ''Oblivion'' (1994 film), an American space Western * ''Oblivion'' (2013 film), an American post-apocalyptic science fiction film Literature * ''Oblivion'' (''Power of Five''), a 2012 novel by Anthony Horowitz * ...

at the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660). He was Father of the City in 1658 and was discharged from his position as Alderman on 12 February 1661.'Fathers of the City', The Aldermen of the City of London: Temp. Henry III – 1912 (1908), pp. 250-254. Date accessed: 4 March 2011
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Thomas Year of birth missing Year of death missing Sheriffs of the City of London 17th-century lord mayors of London Roundheads London Trained Bands officers English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1648–1653 Prisoners in the Tower of London