Thomas White (died 1580) was an English state official who came to prominence during the

Dudley conspiracy Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the M ...

of 1555 against

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

Biography

He was the son of John White. He lived in

Tuxford Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw District, Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,516, increasing to 2,649 at the 2011 census. Geography Nearby town ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. Thomas married Agnes (aka Anne) Cecil, the daughter of Richard Cecil. Agnes' brother was Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

's great

Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

, Sir William Cecil, 1st

Lord Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

). During the plot, Sir Henry Dudley, a kinsman of the

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...

, tried to place Princess Elizabeth on the throne of England, disposing of Mary. Thomas White was an official in the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...

. His part in the plot was to have been a minor one whereby he was to have arrange the robbery of the Exchequer to provide finance for the plotters to pay for the army of exiles and mercenaries they were attempting to bring over from the Continent. White became frightened as time went on, and confessed to Cardinal Pole all he knew. The plot was foiled. As a reward for his loyalty, White was rewarded by the gracious gift of four estates from the Queen. The estates were: Cotgrave, Notts., and Preston, Stone, and Kynwadeston, in Somerset. "In consideration," so runs the Originalia Roll, 3 and 4 Phil, and Mary, "of good and faithful service by our beloved servant, Thomas White, gentleman, in that late conspiracy against us, our crown and dignity attempted not long since by Henry Dudley and his accomplices." Thomas’s wife is called Agnes Cecil throughout this grant. In addition to these manors and his Collingham property, Thomas possessed the manor of Ruddingston, Notts.; lands at Holbich, Lincoln; Stilton, Hunts.; and the estate of Woodhead, in Rutland. In 1560, he purchased the greater part of the remaining portion of the manors of Tuxford, and his son,

Sir John White Sir John White's (1588-1625) was a government official in the Kingdom of England. Sir John was twenty-two when he succeeded his father, Thomas White, as High sheriff of Nottinghamshire. Marriage Sir John White was married at the age of 32 to ...

, completed the acquisition of the whole. Thomas White died on 26 October 1580, and is buried with his wife (who survived him) in the smaller of the two vaults of the White’s mortuary chapel on the north side of the Church of St. Nicholas, Tuxford.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Thomas Year of birth missing 1580 deaths People from Bassetlaw District 16th-century English people