Sir Thomas Wale (1303 – 26 October 1352) was an English soldier and founder

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

. He was born, probably in Weedon Pinkney,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, to Sir Thomas Wale and his wife Lucy, Lady of the Manor of Weedon Pinkney. His father died in or shortly before 1315, after which his mother successfully fought a lawsuit with her cousin Edmund Pinkney for possession of the family estates. She died in 1343. In 1339 he fought in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

under King Edward III and in 1342 fought under

William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG (c. 1312 – 16 September 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander. Lineage He was the fifth son of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan. He had a twin brot ...

, in a military expedition to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. In 1344 he was fighting overseas with Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel. In 1348 he was invested, with 23 other knights, into the new Order of the Garter established by Edward III and was allocated stall 18 in the home of the order, St George's Chapel, Windsor. He died in Gascony in 1352. He had married Nichola but left no children. Most of his estates, which included

Litchborough Litchborough is an historic village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 300 people,

, passed to his nephew Sir Peter Mallore, son of his sister Margaret, who had married into another prominent Northamptonshire family. Peter sat in the

English House of Commons The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

, was

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respo ...

in 1351 and served in the late 1350s as a judge in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wale, Thomas 1303 births 1352 deaths English soldiers Garter Knights appointed by Edward III