Thomas Charlton (died 11 January 1344)Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 250 was

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...

Lord High 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 ...

of England,

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

, and

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

. He is buried in

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

in Hereford,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England.

Family

Charlton was born near

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of central Telford and 12 miles (19 km) east of Shrewsbury. The summit of The Wrekin lies 3 miles southwest of the town. The ...

, younger son of Robert de Charleton of Apley, a small landowner. Thomas' eldest brother was

John Charleton, 1st Baron Cherleton John Charlton (also Charleton, Cherleton or Chorleton), 1st Baron Charlton of Powys (1268–1353) came from a family of minor landowners near Wellington, Shropshire. He was the son of Robert Charlton (and elder brother to Alan, and Thomas, Bi ...

, who became a statesman of some importance. Both brothers were in the household of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

, and Thomas received numerous ecclesiastical preferments. The executors of his will were: Alan Cherleton, knight, John Cherleton, junior, knight; William de Sheynton, Richard de Sydenhale, Henry Shipton, Adam Esger and Alan Venyse. 1349; Plea rolls of the court of Common Pleas; CP40/358; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E3/CP40no358/cCP40no358mm101dtoEnd/IMG_8453.htm

Appointments

Charlton was

from 1316 to 1320.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 93 Charlton was nominated to be Bishop of Hereford on 25 September 1327 and

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 18 October 1327.

In Ireland

In 1337 his brother John was appointed

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch) ...

, and Thomas accompanied him to Ireland as Lord Chancellor. He was charged by the English Crown to inquire into the perceived inadequacy and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

of the Irish

courts of common law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

and was authorised to remove the Irish judges and appoint English replacements. His mission does not seem to have been a success, as most of the existing judges, notably the notoriously corrupt

Simon Fitz-Richard Sir Simon Fitz-Richard (died c.1348 ) was an Irish landowner, barrister and judge. He became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, and fought a long and successful campaign against the efforts of his enemies to remove him from office, despit ...

, the

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...

, fought off all attempts to replace them. John resigned as justiciar in 1338, following a dispute, and Thomas moved from the Chancellorship to the position of

custos rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

for Ireland. Charlton was also

from 2 July 1328 until 16 September 1329.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 105

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlton, Thomas 1344 deaths Lord High Treasurers of England Lords Privy Seal Bishops of Hereford 14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Burials at Hereford Cathedral Year of birth unknown Lords Lieutenant of Ireland