Sir Thomas Edmonds (1563 – 20 September 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who served under three successive monarchs, Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, Kings
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
and
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 ...
, and occupied the office of
Treasurer of the Royal Household from 1618 to 1639.
Origins
He was the fifth son of Thomas Edmonds (d.1604) of
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
in Devon and of
Fowey
Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...
in Cornwall (eldest son of Henry Edmunds of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
in Wiltshire),
Customer of Plymouth in 1564, by his first wife Joane de la Bere, a daughter of Anthony De la Bere of
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...
in Dorset.
Career
He is said to have been introduced at court by another namesake, Sir Thomas Edmonds,
Comptroller of the household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...
to Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, where he received the rudiments of a political education from Sir
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster".
Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...
. He was a man of small stature but formidable character: people spoke of "the little man" with respect.
In 1592 the queen appointed Edmonds as her agent in France concerning the affairs of the king of Navarre and the
Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, in which office he continued until 1596, when the queen appointed him her "secretary of the French tongue". He then returned to Paris in 1597. In 1597 he was elected as a
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
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
in Wiltshire, but as he was abroad the seat was occupied by a
proxy
Proxy may refer to:
* Proxy or agent (law), a substitute authorized to act for another entity or a document which authorizes the agent so to act
* Proxy (climate), a measured variable used to infer the value of a variable of interest in climate ...
. In 1600 he was the queen's
ambassador at Brussels and one of the commissioners for the peace conference at
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
. In 1601 he was appointed a clerk of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, but returned to Paris as minister soon after. He was elected an MP for
Liskeard
Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...
, Cornwall, in 1601.
He was knighted by King
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
at
Greenwich Palace
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
on 22 May 1603. In 1604 he was sent as ambassador to
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
. Soon after, while still abroad, he was elected a
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
Wilton in Wiltshire and was granted the reversion to the office of
Clerk of the Crown
A Clerk of the Crown is a clerk who usually works for a monarch or such royal head of state. The term is mostly used in the United Kingdom to refer to the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, though the office has undergone different title ...
. He returned to Brussels as
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
in 1609, and from 1610 served as
ambassador to France for seven years.
In 1616 he was appointed
Comptroller of the Royal Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...
and in 1618
Treasurer of the Royal Household, a post he held until his death. He was elected as an MP for
Bewdley
Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...
in 1621, for
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
in February 1624, for
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, all in the first Parliament of King
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 ...
in 1625 and in 1628 for
Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to:
*Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River
**Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the to ...
. His final diplomatic service was to return as a special
ambassador to France in 1629 to ratify a treaty.
Retirement
On his return to England he retired to
Albyns in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, a
manor he had inherited from his wife, it was said he employed the architect
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings.
As the most notable archit ...
to rebuild the house. He died on 20 September 1639.
Marriage and progeny
He married
Magdalen Wood
Magdalen Wood ( fl. 1600–1614) was an English courtier and diplomatic messenger.
Life
Magdalen Wood was a daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Wood, Clerk of the Signet. She married Sir Thomas Edmondes (1563-1639), a diplomat and politician, in ...
(died 1614), a daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Wood,
Clerk of the Signet The Clerks of the Signet were English officials who played an intermediate role in the passage of letters patent through the seals. For most of the history of the position, four clerks were in office simultaneously.
Letters patent prepared by the ...
.
Their children included:
*Sir
Henry Edmonds
Sir Henry Edmonds (1605–1635) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1625 to 1626.
Edmonds was the son of Sir Thomas Edmonds of the Privy Council and his first wife Magdalen Wood, daughter of Sir John Wood. He matricul ...
,
Knight of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...
, his heir (a "hopeless drunkard").
*Isabella Edmonds, wife of
Henry West, 4th Baron De La Warr
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
*Frances Edmonds, wife of
Robert Mildmay, and an ancestor of
Baron FitzWalter
Baron FitzWalter is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 24 June 1295 for Robert FitzWalter. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. His great-grandson, the fo ...
.
His second wife was Sara or
Sarah Harington
Sarah Harington (1565–1629) was an English courtier.
Sarah or Sara Harington was a daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton and Lucy Sidney, the daughter of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, Kent. Sarah and her sisters were literary patrons and ...
(1565-1628), a daughter of
Sir James Harington of Exton and Lucy Sidney, and widow of
Francis, Lord Hastings, Sir George Kingsmith, and
Edward 11th Baron Zouche. Her portrait was painted by
Isaac Oliver
Isaac Oliver (c. 1565 – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English portrait miniature painter.Baskett, John. ''Paul Mellon's legacy: a passion for British art'' (Yale University Press, 2007) pp. 240-1.
Life and work
Born in Rouen, he ...
and by
Cornelius Johnson. The portraits by Johnson show her aged 63 wearing a large miniature case referring to
Frederick V of the Palatinate
Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both r ...
with the Greek letter "phi". A similar miniature case was described in an inventory of a Scottish soldier.
[Athol Murray, 'Jewels Associated with the Queen of Bohemia', ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', 131 (2001), pp. 328, 343.]
References
*J. Palmer, ''A Biographical History of England'' (1824), 86–7.
*M. Greengrass, 'Edmonds, Sir Thomas (d. 1639)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 200
Retrieved 12 Jan 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, Thomas
1563 births
1639 deaths
Treasurers of the Household
Clerks of the Privy Council
English knights
Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
English MPs 1597–1598
English MPs 1601
English MPs 1604–1611
English MPs 1621–1622
English MPs 1624–1625
English MPs 1625
English MPs 1626
English MPs 1628–1629
Ambassadors of England to France
Ambassadors of England to the Habsburg Netherlands
17th-century English diplomats
Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Oxford