Sir Thomas Cooke (died 1478) was an English merchant and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

. He was born the son of Robert Cooke of

Lavenham Lavenham is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is noted for its Guildhall, Little Hall, 15th-century church, half-timbered medieval cottages and circular walks. In the medie ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and moved to London to become a draper. He was made

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

for 1453–54, an alderman from 1456 and Member of Parliament for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1460 and 1470. He was elected

for 1462–63 and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1465. In 1467 he began to build a mansion called

Gidea Hall Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London. The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 ...

, near

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, which was only completed by his descendant, Sir

Anthony Cooke Sir Anthony Cooke (1504 – 11 June 1576) was an English humanist scholar. He was tutor to Edward VI. Family Anthony Cooke was the only son of John Cooke (died 10 October 1516), esquire, of Gidea Hall, Essex, and Alice Saunders (died 1510), da ...

. In 1467 he was charged with high treason for lending money to

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, the queen of the deposed Lancastrian King Henry VI, on the strength of a confession of a statement obtained under torture from one Hawkins. Chief Justice Markham directed the jury to find it only misprision of treason, whereby Cooke's lands and life were saved, though he was heavily fined and long imprisoned. While awaiting his trial in the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

his effects, both at his town house and at Gidea Hall, were seized by Lord Rivers, then treasurer of England, and his wife was committed to the custody of the mayor. On his acquittal he was sent to the Bread Street compter, and afterwards to the king's bench, and was kept there until he paid eight thousand pounds to the king and eight hundred pounds to the queen. Lord Rivers and his wife, the Duchess of Bedford, also obtained the dismissal of Markham from his office for having determined that Cooke was not guilty of treason. He died in 1478 and was buried in the church of the Augustine friars, within the ward of Broad Street in London. He had married Elizabeth, the daughter and coheiress of Alderman Philip Malpas, one of the leaders of the Lancastrian party within the city. They had one daughter and four sons, the eldest of whom was Philip, who was afterwards knighted. Thomas Cooke's will stated that he owned at least four brewhouses, taverns, and beerhouses, besides fishing-weirs on the Colne, a large farm at Gidea Hall, and numerous properties and manors in London,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Essex, and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

References

Year of birth missing 1478 deaths People from Lavenham English merchants Sheriffs of the City of London Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London Knights Bachelor 15th-century lord mayors of London Burials at Austin Friars, London {{Lord-Mayor-of-London-stub

See also

References