Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre (1472 – 9 September 1534) was an English peer and soldier, the son of Sir John Fiennes.

Career

He was born in 1472, the son of Sir John Fiennes (born c.1447, son of

Richard Fiennes, 7th Baron Dacre Richard Fiennes, ''jure uxoris'' 7th Baron Dacre (1415 – 25 November 1483) was an English knight and hereditary keeper of Herstmonceux Castle, Sussex. He was the son of Sir Roger Fiennes, Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Sussex. and Elizabeth H ...

born 1415) and

Alice FitzHugh Alice FitzHugh (c. 1448 – 10 July 1516) was the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry FitzHugh, 5th Baron FitzHugh, and Lady Alice Neville. Alice was born at the ancestral castle of Ravensworth. She married Sir John Fiennes, the son of Sir ...

. By his mother, he was a cousin to

Sir Thomas Parr Sir Thomas Parr (c. 1483 – 11 November 1517) of Kendal in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, was a courtier and is best known as the father of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. Life Thomas was the son of ...

, father of future queen consort Catherine Parr. He had one sister, Anne, Marchioness Berkeley (died 10 September 1497), who married secondly to

Sir Thomas Brandon Sir Thomas Brandon, of Southwark, Surrey, and of Duddington, Northamptonshire, KG (died 27 January 1510) was an English soldier, courtier and diplomat. Life He was from a Lancastrian family, the son of William Brandon (died 1491) of Sout ...

. On 8 March 1486, he succeeded as 8th Baron Dacre upon the death of his grandmother Joan Dacre, the ''suo jure'' 7th Baroness Dacre. He was also known as Baron Dacre of the South owing to his family seat of

Herstmonceux Castle Herstmonceux Castle is a brick-built castle, dating from the 15th century, near Herstmonceux, East Sussex, England. It is one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England. The castle was renowned for being one of the fir ...

being in the county of Sussex. In 1493, one year after his marriage, he was appointed

Constable of Calais The town of Calais, now part of France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558, and this page lists the commanders of Calais, holding office from the English Crown, called at different times Captain of Calais, King's Lieutenant of Calais (Castl ...

. He was invested as a Knight of the Bath in 1494. In 1497, he fought in the Battle of Blackheath where he helped defeat the Cornish.

Marriage and issue

In about 1492, he married Anne Bourchier, the daughter of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and

Elizabeth Tilney Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey (before 1445 – 4 April 1497) was an English heiress who became the first wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (when still Earl of Surrey). She served successively as a lady-in-waiting to two Queen ...

. The marriage produced three sons and a daughter: * Sir Thomas Fiennes (died 26 October 1528), married in 1514, Jane Sutton, daughter of

Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley, (c. 1460 – 31 January 1531) was an English nobleman elected as Knight of the Garter (KG) in the beginning of King Henry VIII's reign. He was chamberlain to Princess Mary (later Queen Mary I) from 1525 to 1528 ...

, and Cicely Willoughby, by whom he had one son,

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre {{Infobox noble , honorific-prefix = The Right Horourable , name = The Lord Dacre , title = Baron Dacre , image = Fiennes,Thomas Baron Dacre.jpg , caption = ''Thomas Fiennes, Baron Dacre'' , alt = , Co ...

and a daughter Anne who married John Mantell. The 9th Baron and his brother-in-law Mantell were hanged for the murder of John Busbridge in 1541. * John Fiennes (b.1497) * Thomas Fiennes * Mary Fiennes (1495–1531), married Henry Norris, by whom she had issue.

Death

He died on 9 September 1534 at the age of 62. He was succeeded by his eldest grandson, Thomas Fiennes, as his sons had predeceased him. The tomb set up for the 8th Baron Dacre and his son at All Saints Church, Herstmonceux, known as the Dacre Tomb, is thought to have made use of effigies from an older monument intended for

Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings KG (c. 1396 – 13 February 1455) was an English courtier. William Camden called him ''vir egregius'', literally an "outstanding man". The Barony created in his name had no successors, and he had no male issu ...

(1396-1455) and his younger half-brother, also Sir Thomas Hoo (born 1416). This was shown when the monument was restored, and it was found that the original arms shown on the tabards of the figures were those of Hoo. It is conjectured that the Hoo tomb may have been at

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now ...

, which was sold in 1539 and dismantled soon afterwards.

Gallery

Herstmonceux Castle.JPG,

, seat of the

Barons Dacre Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

of the South Herstmonceux, All Saints' church (44098483941).jpg, All Saints church, Herstmonceux Dacre tomb, Herstmonceux 1.jpg, Tomb of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Lord Dacre (1472–1534) and his son, Sir Thomas Fiennes (d. 1528) Herstmonceux, All Saints' church, Dacre memorial (30230037008).jpg, Tomb of Lord Dacre and his son, All Saints, Herstmonceux

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dacre, Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

1472 births 1534 deaths 15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility Knights of the Bath People from Herstmonceux