Thomas Snagge (1536–1593) was a

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 of ...

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and landowner who served as Speaker of the English House of Commons,

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the es ...

and as Queen's Sergeant.Bedfordshire Library Website, Local Biographies - Thomas Snagge
retrieved 3 January 2009

Life

Snagge was born in 1536 in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

. He was the son of Thomas Snagge, the prosperous

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Marston Moretaine Marston Moreteyne (or Marston Moretaine) is a large English village and civil parish located on the A421 between Bedford and Milton Keynes in the county of Bedfordshire. The population was 4,560 at the 2001 census, and 4,556 at the 2011 census ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. He studied law at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, and after being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1554 practiced law in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Snagge was elected as a

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

in 1571. He was chosen by Queen Elizabeth to be

and held this appointment from 1577 to 1580. The Queen chose him because he had a reputation for efficiency, and "the public service had been not a little hindered through the default and insufficiency of m the

rish Rish ( bg, Риш Riš) is a village in Smyadovo Municipality, Shumen Province, Bulgaria, with a population of 604 as of 2019. Population According to the 2011 Census, the population of Rish consists mainly of Bulgarian Turks (72.6%), followe ...

law officers" and "her Majesty thought that a person well-chosen in England might be sent over". Snagge as it turned out was not particularly well-chosen: he had not wanted the job and disliked living in Ireland and, according to a modern writer, his official correspondence is simply a long list of complaints. In particular, he complained of the inefficiency of the

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respons ...

, Nicholas White, and went so far as to make an official complaint against him to the

Privy Council of England The Privy Council of England, also known as His (or Her) Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (), was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England. Its members were often senior members of the House of Lords and the House of ...

. In 1580 he was appointed a

Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not commonly ...

.Hart ''The King's Serjeant-at-law in Ireland'' In 1586 Snagge was again returned as one of the members of parliament for Bedfordshire and in 1589 for the

borough of Bedford The Borough of Bedford is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based in Bedford, its namesake and principal settlement, which is the county town of Bedfordshire. The bor ...

. In 1589 he was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons and in 1590 was promoted to

Queen's Serjeant A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the Barristers in England and Wales, English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, ...

. As well as owning several manors in Bedfordshire, his home seat was at

.A History of Moreteyne Manor - Moreteyne Manor website
retrieved 3 January 2009 Snagge died in 1593 and was entombed in St Mary's Church, Marston Moretaine, where an

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

tomb carrying effigies of him and his wife survives. He had married Elizabeth, daughter and coheiress of Thomas Dickons of Marston Moretaine; they had five sons and two daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, also a member of parliament (for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

in 1586).

References

History of Parliament SNAGGE, Thomas I (1536-93) of Marston Mortaine, Beds
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Snagge, Thomas 1536 births 1593 deaths People from Letchworth Members of Gray's Inn Speakers of the House of Commons of England Serjeants-at-law (England) English lawyers English knights English MPs 1571 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 16th-century English lawyers People from Marston Moreteyne Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)