Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth by John Bettes the Elder

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth and ''de jure'' 6th Baron le Despencer, PC (15013 March 1551) was an English peer and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

during the

Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and it ...

. The Wentworths were originally from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

but a branch of the family had settled in

Nettlestead, Suffolk Nettlestead is a dispersed village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England.The surrounding villages of Nettlestead include Somersham (the closest), Little Blakenham, Baylham, Barking, Willisham and Offton. I ...

in the mid-fifteenth century, where Wentworth was born. He was the eldest son of Sir Richard Wentworth, ''de jure'' 5th

Baron le Despencer Baron le Despencer is a title that has been created several times by writ in the Peerage of England. Creation Sir Hugh le Despenser I was a large landowner in Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland. He was appointed High ...

of the 1387 creation, and was a nephew of Margery Wentworth, the mother of

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

. His mother was Anne Tyrrell, the daughter of Sir James Tyrrell, the supposed murderer of the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the apparent murder in England in the 1480s of the deposed King Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. These two brothers were the only sons of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville sur ...

. He had two younger brothers, Philip and Richard, and five sisters, Anne, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Margery and Thomasine. Around 1520 Wentworth married Margaret Fortescue, the eldest daughter of Sir Adrian Fortescue. They had a large family of eight sons and nine daughters, including

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, later 2nd Baron Wentworth. Among his daughters, Margery married firstly

John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame (c. 1500 – 14 October 1559) was Master of the Jewels and Lord President of the Council of the Welsh Marches. He was summoned to parliament as Lord Williams of Thame on 17 February 1554. Life Will ...

and secondly

Sir William Drury Sir William Drury (2 October 152713 October 1579) was an English statesman and soldier. Family William Drury, born at Hawstead in Suffolk on 2 October 1527, was the third son of Sir Robert Drury (c. 1503–1577) of Hedgerley, Buckinghamshi ...

, Dorothy married the explorer Martin Frobisher and Anne married John Pooley. In 1523, Wentworth took part in Suffolk's failed invasion of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and was knighted by him. In 1529, he was also created Baron Wentworth in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...

. He was one of the peers who signed the letter to the pope in favour of Henry VIII's divorce from

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

. In 1536, he was present at the trials of

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

and her brother, Lord Rochford and at those of Lord Montagu and the

Marquess of Exeter Marquess of Exeter is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1525 for Henry Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon. For more ...

in 1538. In 1550, Lord Wentworth was appointed

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

and died the following year. His funeral was held at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and he was buried in the abbey's Chapel of

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. His title passed to his eldest son, Thomas.

Notes

References

Carter, P. R. N., - ''Wentworth, Thomas, first Baron Wentworth (1501–1551), nobleman''
-

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

External links

Will of Sir Richard Wentworth, proved 21 November 1528, PROB 11/22/654, National Archives
Retrieved 30 July 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wentworth, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron *01 Burials at Westminster Abbey 1501 births 1551 deaths People from Mid Suffolk District 16th-century English nobility Peers of England created by Henry VIII