Thomas Farnfold (1600 – 19 March 1643) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1643. The subject became a ward at age twelve and his wardship passed to the young Sir Edward Sackville before Bartholomew Rogers, the usher of the court of wards, took wardship of the subject and married him to his daughter. In 1623 Farnfold 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 Steyning, and was re-elected in 1625. His occupations were county official, justice of the peace, and

Gentleman-pensioner His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834, they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. Formation The corps was formed as the Troop of Gen ...

. He was confined to prison in 1622 for his quarrel with

William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC (1544 – 25 May 1632) was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. Biography He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys, of Greys Court in Oxfordshire, and of Reading ...

and confined to the Fleet Prison in 1638 for two weeks. He was re-elected in 1628 and held the seat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, he was re-elected MP for Steyning 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 ...

and again in November 1640 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 ...

. Farnfold owned property in Sussex including Churchmeadow, Gatwickes, a water mill and lands and Wickham Farm Steyning Farnhold died in 1643.''Steyning: Manors and other estates'', A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1: Bramber Rape (Southern Part) (1980), pp. 226-231. Date accessed: 21 January 2011.
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References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnefold, Thomas 1600 births 1643 deaths English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648