Sir Thomas Saunders (1593–1653) was an English

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

landowner. He was a Member of Parliament, Deputy Lieutenant for Buckinghamshire, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and a Parliamentarian army officer during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. His surname was often written as Sanders.

Early life

Sir Thomas Saunders was the third son of Richard Saunders of Amersham (died 1601) and his wife, Elizabeth née Blount. The Saunders had been major landowners in Buckinghamshire for several generations and his father had been lord of the manors of Moreton in Dinton and Pitchcott. Through his mother, Sir Thomas' first cousin was

Henry Blount (knight) Sir Henry Blount (1602–1682) was a 17th-century English landowner, traveller and author. Life He was the third son of Sir Thomas Pope Blount (1552–1638) of Blount's Hall, Staffordshire and Tyttenhanger, Hertfordshire and was educated at St ...

Saunders matriculated at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1613. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

that same year.

Estate

The manor of

Pitchcott Pitchcott is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about northeast of Waddesdon, slightly less than south of Winslow and slightly more than north of Aylesbury. It is in the civil parish ...

had passed from Richard Saunders to John Saunders, his eldest son. John Saunders died in 1623 and the manor passed to his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir Walter Pye. Sir Walter and Elizabeth conveyed the manor of Pitchcott to Sir Thomas Saunders and his brother Francis in 1637. Sir Thomas Saunders also owned lands in the nearby parishes of Oving and North Marston.

Career

In 1638, Sir Thomas Saunders was a

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 ...

for the county of Buckinghamshire. During the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

in 1640, Sir Thomas was returned to Parliament as one of the burgesses for the borough of

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

. Due to the fact that the Short Parliament only sat for three weeks, it is unclear whether or not Sir Thomas attended any sessions of Parliament. In May 1642, under the authority of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, Sir Thomas Saunders was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Buckinghamshire. Saunders fought on the side of Parliament at the Battle of Edgehill as a captain in

Arthur Goodwin Arthur Goodwin (circa 1593/94 – 16 August 1643) of Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1643. He supported the Parliamentary cause during the E ...

's troop of horse. Sir Thomas retired from the Parliamentary army in January 1643. An account of his experience as a captain in the army is held by the National Archives in Kew. He once again served as a justice of the peace in 1646. in 1648, he was appointed by Parliament to the committee for the County of Buckinghamshire for the purpose of settling the Militia. In 1649, Saunders was appointed and served as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

Family and personal life

In 1623, Saunders was knighted by

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

at Newmarket. Sir Thomas Saunders married Alice Watkins in 1625.England Marriages – FamilySearch Historical Records (Nov 12, 2019) Retrieved from https://www.familysearch.org Through his wife Alice, he was the brother-in-law of Charles Fleetwood of the Vache, Buckinghamshire. Thomas Saunders ( -1690) was the eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Saunders. Thomas would marry Elizabeth Proby (1626- ), the sister of Sir Thomas Proby, 1st Bt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Thomas English knights Knights Bachelor High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Members of the Middle Temple 1593 births 1653 deaths English justices of the peace