Thomas Hooke (15??–1670) was a successful

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

and significant figure in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

politics from the 1640s until his death. He appeared in Dublin's civic records first in 1637. Hooke made his fortune selling herrings and cheese to the English Parliamentary army in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was elected

Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

in 1654. His close connections with the

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

administration in the city brought him a succession of positions of power and influence -

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, revenue commissioner, commissioner for probate of wills and farmer of the petty customs of Dublin, as well as commissioner of the

Civil Survey The Civil Survey was a cadastral survey of landholdings in Ireland carried out in 1654–56. It was separate from the Down Survey, which began while the Civil Survey was in progress, and made use of Civil Survey data to guide its progress. Whereas ...

for the county of Dublin. Religiously he was Independent and an elder of the congregation of St Nicholas-within-the-walls, close to his house on Castle Street. Corballis House and Kilsallaghan Estate in north County Dublin was granted to him as part of the Cromwellian land settlement. Following the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Hooke's ownership of the house, along with much of the rest of the land he had acquired, was contested. In 1666 he was eventually forced to relinquish Corballis House, but not before receiving permission from Lord Deputy Ormond to remove ‘certain fittings put up by the petitioner.’ He was accused of

disloyalty Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another h ...

in 1663 but escaped censure. Hooke died in 1670 and his will was proven in 1672.'Twenty-sixth report of the deputy keeper of the public records and keeper of the state papers in Ireland' (Dublin, 1894), p. 428.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooke, Thomas 16th-century births 1670 deaths Year of birth unknown Lord Mayors of Dublin