Sir Thomas Coningsby (9 October 1550-30 May 1625) was an English soldier and

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 ...

, notable for his diary of military action in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1591.Record for ''Sir Thomas Coningsby'' at ''www.thepeerage.com''
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Birth

Thomas Coningsby was the son and heir of Humphrey Coningsby, of

Hampton Court, Herefordshire Hampton Court Castle, also known as Hampton Court, is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is in the parish of Hope under Dinmore south of Leominster and is a Grade I listed building, which is the h ...

, by Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Inglefield, judge of the

common pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

. His father, a gentleman-treasurer to Queen Elizabeth, was a grandson of Sir Humphrey Coningsby.

Early life and military service

Coningsby visited Italy with

Sir Philip Sidney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

in 1573, and he was intimate with Sidney until Sir Philip's death, although their friendship was severely strained on their Italian journey by an unfounded charge of robbery brought by Sidney against Coningsby. Coningsby went to Normandy in attendance on the

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

in 1591, and took part in the siege of Rouen, fighting against the forces of the league. He acted as muster-master to the English detachment, was in frequent intercourse with

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

before Rouen, and was knighted by Essex on 8 October 1591. Coningsby was

High Sheriff of Herefordshire This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centurie ...

in 1582 and 1598 and

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

(MP) for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

in 1593, 1597 and 1601. In March 1601 Coningsby wrote to

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

to dispute the appointment of Herbert Croft as Steward of Leominster. His father had been Steward, he had a house at Leominster Priory and another in the town, and an election for the position had been planned. Coningsby expected Cecil to help because his wife, Philippa, was his kinswoman.

Anne of Denmark

Following the

Union of the Crowns The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...

in 1603, Coningsby was appointed to a committee managing the

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the dea ...

lands in England of

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. He would report on the queen's manors in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, including

Kingsland Kingsland may refer to: Places ;Barbados * Kingsland, Barbados (in Christ Church, Barbados Parish) ;Canada * Kingsland, Calgary, Alberta, a neighborhood ;Australia * proposed alternative name for the Northern Territory in 1912 ;New Zealand * Kings ...

, Marden, Westharness (Leominster), Stockton (Herefs), Stoke (Herefs),

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

, Ivington and Hope (near Leominster), and

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...

. Coningsby and the other councillors were invited to come to court to kiss the queen's hand and receive their instructions when the plague had subsided. A portrait of his daughter Anne has an inscription mentioning that she was a maid of honour to the queen. After Anne of Denmark died in 1619 the Leominster manors were given to the

Marquess of Buckingham Marquess of Buckingham may refer to: * George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628) Marquess of Buckingham from 1618 until elevated to Duke of Buckingham in 1623 * George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (1753–1813), ...

Later life

On 12 Nov. 1617 he joined the

council of Wales The Council for Wales and Monmouthshire ( cy, Cyngor Cymru a Mynwy) was an appointed advisory body announced in 1948 and established in 1949 by the UK government under Labour prime minister Clement Attlee, to advise the government on matters of ...

under the presidency of William, Lord Compton. In 1614 Coningsby founded a hospital in the suburbs of

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

for superannuated soldiers and servants called 'Coningsby's Company of Old Servitors', this is now open on Wednesday's and Saturdays from Easter to September and is free to visit and you can learn about Thomas Coningsby and his impact on the site. Thomas Coningsby died on 30 May 1625, aged 74. Sir Thomas married

Philippa Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend". Common alternative spellings include ''Filippa'' and ''Phillipa''. Less common is ''Filipa'' and even ''Philippe'' (cf. the French spelling of ''Philippa of Guelders'' ...

, second daughter of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton, near

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, and Sir Philip Sidney's cousin, by whom he had six sons and three daughters. All his sons except one died before him. His children included: *

Fitzwilliam Coningsby Fitzwilliam Coningsby (died August 1666) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1621 and in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Biography Coningsby was born at Hampton Court, Herefordshire, the ...

, who married Cicely, daughter of

Henry Nevill, 9th Baron Bergavenny Henry Nevill, ''de facto'' 9th (''de jure'' 2nd) Baron Bergavenny (c. 1570 – c. December 1641) was an English iron founder, soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1622 when he inherited the ...

, their son

Humphrey Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Medieval period :''Ordered chronologically'' *Hunfrid of P ...

married Lettice Loftus, and was the father of

Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC (2 November 1656 – 1 May 1729) of Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat ...

*Katharine Coningsby, who married Francis Smallman of

Kinnersley Castle Kinnersley Castle in Herefordshire, England, is one of the many marches castles along the Welsh Borders. The Castle of Kinnersley, on the A4112 east of Eardisley, was originally a stone structure, thought to have been built during the reign o ...

, Herefordshire *Elizabeth Coningsby, who married Sir Humphrey Baskerville of

Eardisley Castle Eardisley Castle was in the village of Eardisley in Herefordshire, England, 11 km north-east of Hay-on-Wye (). The site of the castle is a scheduled monument. This was an 11th-century motte and bailey castle with a moat around the bailey fill ...

, Herefordshire *Anne Coningsby, who married in 1608 Sir Richard Tracy (died 1638) of Hatfield or Hasfield and

Stanway, Gloucestershire Stanway is a small crossroads village and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England, and about 1 mile south of Stanton: both villages are on the Cotswold Way. The parish includes the villages of Didbrook, Hailes, Taddington and ...

.''Abstracts of Gloucestershire Inquisitiones Post Mortem Returned, Charles I'' (London, 1895), pp. 74-6.

Diary

Coningsby is the author of a diary of the action of the English troops in France in 1591. It proceeds day by day through two periods, 13 August to 6 September, and 3 October to 24 December, when it abruptly terminates. The original manuscript is among the Harleian Manuscripts at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. It was first printed and carefully edited by

J. G. Nichols John Gough Nichols (1806–1873) was an English painter and antiquary, the third generation in a family publishing business with strong connection to learned antiquarianism. Life The eldest son of John Bowyer Nichols, he was born at his fathe ...

in the first volume of the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...

's ''Miscellanies'' (1847). Internal evidence alone gives the clue to the authorship.

Notes

References

External links

Journal of the siege of Rouen, 1591
- Coningsby's diary, from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coningsby, Thomas Year of birth unknown 1625 deaths English soldiers English diarists High Sheriffs of Herefordshire 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 16th-century English soldiers English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 1550 births Expatriates of the Kingdom of England in France