Thomas Peacock (also Pecocke) (died in or after 1581) was an English cleric and college head.

Life

Peacock was born at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, about 1516, the son of Thomas Peacock, a burgess of Cambridge. He was admitted fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, in 1534, and graduated B.A. 1534–5, M.A. 1537, and B.D. 1554. Peacock's religious views were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

; and during the disturbances in St John's College leading to the visitation by

Thomas Goodrich Sir Thomas Goodrich (also spelled Goodricke; died 10 May 1554) was an English ecclesiastic and statesman who was Bishop of Ely from 1534 until his death. Life He was a son of Edward Goodrich of East Kirkby, Lincolnshire and brother of Henry ...

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nort ...

, on 5 April 1542, Peacock was one of the "appellants" opposed to John Taylor. On 1 April 1555 he signed the Roman Catholic articles promoted by Dr. Atkynson and others, and on 25 October

Thomas Thirlby Thomas Thirlby (or Thirleby; –1570), was the first and only bishop of Westminster (1540–50), and afterwards successively bishop of Norwich (1550–54) and bishop of Ely (1554–59). While he acquiesced in the Henrician schism, with its reje ...

, Bishop of Ely, whose chaplain he was, presented him to the rectory of Downham, Cambridgeshire. On the occasion of

Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

's visitation of the university (11 January 1556–7) Peacock preached in Latin before the visitors in St Mary's Church, against

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

. On 31 January 1558 he was presented by the bishop of Ely to the rectory of

Barley, Hertfordshire Barley is a village and civil parish in the district of North Hertfordshire, England. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 659, increasing to 662 at the 2011 Census. The place-name refers to a lea or meadow and not to the grain-pr ...

; and on 23 November of the same year was elected President of Queens' College, Cambridge. Refusing to comply with the religious changes at the accession of Elizabeth I, Peacock lost all his preferments. He resigned the presidency of Queens' College on 1 July 1559, in order to avoid expulsion.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Pecocke, Thomas Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge People from Cambridge 1516 births 1582 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge