Sir Thomas Lucy (1583/86 – 8 December 1640) of

Charlecote Park Charlecote Park () is a grand 16th-century country house, surrounded by its own deer park, on the banks of the River Avon in Charlecote near Wellesbourne, about east of Stratford-upon-Avon and south of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It has ...

, Warwickshire was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at various times between 1614 and 1640.

Early life

Lucy was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park and his wife Constance Kingsmill, the daughter of Sir Richard Kingsmill of High Clere, Hampshire. John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 3''"> John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 3''
/ref> His grandfather Sir Thomas Lucy was an MP and is noted for prosecuting

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

although there is little evidence to support this claim.

Career

In 1614, Lucy 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 o ...

for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

. He held the seat through several elections until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament. In April 1640, he was re-elected MP for Warwickshire in the Short Parliament. In November 1640 he was elected MP for

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

in 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 ...

but died in December. Charlecote - Thomas Lucy III

Lucy died after falling from his horse and was buried at St Leonard's Church, Charlecote.Article by Richard Cust. It was said of him that "his tables were ever open to the learned and his gates never fast to the poor".

Family life

Lucy married Alice Spencer, daughter of Thomas Spencer of Claverden, Warwickshire. Alice was described as an archetypal gentlewoman, known for her charity and piety. They had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, including * Sir Fulke Lucy * Richard Lucy * Constance Lucy, who married firstly Sir William Spencer and secondly Sir

Edward Smith Ed, Eddie, Edgar, Edward, Edwin, and similar, surnamed Smith, may refer to: Military * Edward H. Smith (sailor) (1889–1961), United States Coast Guard admiral, oceanographer and Arctic explorer * Edward Smith (VC) (1898–1940), English recipien ...

, Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.Richard Cust, ‘Lucy, Alice, Lady Lucy (c.1594–1648)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 25 Nov 2015
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucy, Thomas 1580s births 1640 deaths English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648