Thomas Egerton (by 1521 – 1590/97) was a London merchant and member of the

Worshipful Company of Mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

. He served as Under-Treasurer of the Royal Mint at 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 sep ...

from 1552 to 1555. In this capacity, he and John Godsalve issued the double-faced shillings of Philip and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. However he was held to have unduly profited from a silver-buying contract and was dismissed in December 1555; he would spend the rest of his life in debt to the Crown. His family obtained his election as

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 Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1558, to help him defend himself from his creditors (MPs enjoyed Parliamentary privilege against arrest for debt). However, when Parliament was prorogued he was arrested and committed to the Fleet prison. With the help of the Speaker, William Cordell, Egerton obtained his release on bond to pay off his debt. While he never succeeded in settling his debt in full, Egerton did enjoy commercial success during the remainder of his life. He was Master of the Mercers' Company in 1587, and was a founder-member of the

Russia Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint s ...

References

Secondary sources

* * * 1521 births 1590s deaths English MPs 1558 Members of the Parliament of England for Newcastle-under-Lyme Businesspeople from London 16th-century merchants Inmates of Fleet Prison People of the Muscovy Company People imprisoned for debt {{16thC-England-MP-stub