Thomas Wise (c. 1605 – 18 March 1641) of Sydenham in Devon, was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons of England 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 ...

at various times between 1625 and 1641.

Biography

Wise was the son of Sir Thomas Wise by his wife Margaret Stafford, daughter of Robert Stafford of

Stowford Stowford is a village and civil parish in the district of West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated to the west of Dartmoor. Stowford is about 1 mile west of the village of Lewdown and about 11 miles south-west of Okehampton in De ...

, Devon. His father had been an MP and had built houses at Mount Wise at Stoke Damerel and at Sydenham.John Burke
A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain
' In 1625 Wise was nominated by Robert Rolle (died 1633) of Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe, Devon, as a Member of Parliament for his

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

of Callington, which

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

had been acquired by him in 1601. Thus in 1625 he served in the Useless Parliament. He was then elected MP for Bere Alston in the parliaments of

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of 1625, 1626 and 1628 to 1629. Wise inherited the family estates on the death of his father in 1629. He was High Sheriff of Devon in 1638. In April 1640, Wise was elected Member of Parliament for Devon for 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 ...

. He was re-elected in November 1640 for the Long Parliament but died in 1641. He was succeed as MP for Devon by his brother in law Sir Samuel Rolle. Wise married Lady Mary Chichester, daughter of Edward Chichester, 1st Viscount Chichester of Carrickfergus in Ireland, of Eggesford in Devon, by whom he had two children: * Edward Wise (1632–1675), of Sydenham, three times MP for Okehampton, 1659, 1660 and 1661–1675. *Margery Wise, who married Sir John Molesworth, 2nd Baronet (1635–1716) of Pencarrow in Cornwall.

References

1641 deaths Members of the Parliament of England for Callington High Sheriffs of Devon English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Devon {{17thC-England-MP-stub