Sir Thomas Walton (also Wauton or Waweton; 1370 – c. 1450) was an English MP and

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

. He was born the son of John de Walton of

Great Staughton Great Staughton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Great Staughton lies approximately south-west of Huntingdon. Great Staughton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan dis ...

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

, who was a previous MP for

. Thomas first entered Parliament as MP for Huntingdonshire in January 1396 and was then re-elected in September 1396, October 1400, and September 1402. He may have sat for

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 ...

in 1409 and 1411 (the returns for those years have been lost) but on 8 May 1413 he was recorded as MP for the county. On 3 Nov 1414 he was returned once again for his home constituency of Huntingdonshire. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Bedfordshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire. Pre-Conquest pre-1042: Aelfstan 1042-1066; Godric, Ralph Talgebose Bondi the staller 1066–1125 *1066-c.1084: Ansculf de Picquigny * Ralph Taillebois *c. 1080 Hugh de Beauchamp *1124 Rich ...

for 1415, and knighted in September 1418. On 18 Sep 1419 he was again elected to parliament for Bedfordshire and on 23 Nov 1420 and 24 Oct 1422 again elected for Huntingdonshire. In 1422 he served a second term as sheriff of Bedfordshire and was appointed

chamberlain of North Wales The Chamberlain of North Wales was a financial official of the Principality of Wales during the medieval period. The Chamberlain controlled the provincial Exchequer located at Caernarfon. Background With the final defeat of the Welsh Princes of ...

. On 20 Mar 1424 he was once more elected for Bedfordshire and this time was elected Speaker of the House. He served a third and fourth term as sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1428 and 1432, serving in between in 1431 as

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 Bedfordshire for the last time. In 1448 he was pardoned from any obligations to hold future office and died soon afterwards. He had married Alana Berry of Wales with whom he had two sons and two daughters.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Thomas High Sheriffs of Bedfordshire High Sheriffs of Buckinghamshire Speakers of the House of Commons of England People from Great Staughton Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 1370s births 1450s deaths English MPs January 1397 English MPs 1402 English MPs May 1413 English MPs November 1414 English MPs 1419 English MPs 1420 English MPs 1422 English MPs 1425