Thomas Leighton (c. 1554 – 17 May 1600) was an English soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of Sir Edward Leighton of

Wattlesborough Castle Wattlesborough Tower is a ruined fortified 13th-century manor house or Tower House in Shropshire. It is situated close to the boundary with Powys in Wales. Wattlesborough is a former township within the present parish of Alberbury. The castle i ...

and his second wife Anne Dayrell, daughter of Paul Dayrell of

Lillingstone Dayrell Lillingstone Dayrell is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in Aylesbury Vale, about three and a half miles north of Buckingham, eight miles west of Milton Keynes and five miles south of Towcester. Lillingstone Dayrell with Luffield Ab ...

, Buckinghamshire. He was a nephew of Sir Thomas Leighton,

Governor of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British crown dependency off the coast of France. Holders of the post of Governor of Guernsey, until the role was abolished in 1835. Since then, only Lieutenant-Governors have been appointed (see Lieutenant Gover ...

. Both his father and his uncle are said to have enjoyed the trust of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

(1566) and studied law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1571. He succeeded to his father's estates in 1593. Wattlesborough Tower, Shropshire

Wattlesborough, the Leighton family home from 1471 to 1711. As a young man, he was a soldier and may have served in the Low Countries. By 1588 he had become captain of the county's trained militia units. He was a Justice of the Peace from c.1592 and a Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire from 1596. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

for

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

in 1597, although serious illness made it difficult for him to attend the House of Commons. He died in 1600 and was buried at

Alberbury Alberbury is a village in Shropshire, England, west of Shrewsbury on the B4393 road which travels from Ford to Lake Vyrnwy. It is on to the England-Wales border, marked by Prince's Oak. The River Severn runs just north of the village, and mo ...

. He was described as "a worthy gentleman, well-beloved by his shire". He had married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir

William Gerard Sir William Gerard (1518–1581) was an Elizabethan statesman, who had a distinguished record of government service in England, Wales and most notably in Ireland. He sat in the House of Commons for Chester for many years, and was Vice-President ...

, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Dorothy Barton; they had 4 sons and 3 daughters, including Robert, the eldest son and heir. Robert was the ancestor of the Leighton baronets of Wattlesborough. Elizabeth survived Thomas, dying in 1626.

References

* 1550s births 1600 deaths People educated at Shrewsbury School English MPs 1597–1598 Deputy Lieutenants of Shropshire {{16thC-England-MP-stub