Thomas Sutton (1532 – 12 December 1611) was an English civil servant and businessman, born in
Knaith, Lincolnshire. He is remembered as the founder of the
London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Farringdon, London, dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally buil ...
and of
Charterhouse School
(God having given, I gave)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president ...
.
Life
Sutton was the son of an official of the city of Lincoln, and was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
and at
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...
. For much of his life he held the prestigious role of Master of the Ordnance in the North, which meant that he was responsible for military supplies and fortification in the north of England. He also obtained the lease of the manors of
Whickham and
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...
, just south of
Newcastle, in 1578, and so gained much of his early wealth from the coal mines in the area and from the sale of this lease five years later.
In 1582, he married Elizabeth Dudley, the widow of John Dudley, who was a distant cousin of the earls of
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
and
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, and this marriage more than doubled Sutton's annual rent income.
[
Sutton's connections to the Dudley family were strong throughout his life. Early in his career, Sutton had held a post under the Earl of Warwick, who then helped him to the post of Master of Ordnance in the North in 1569, and the Earl of Leicester, a favourite of ]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".
Eli ...
, was instrumental in gaining Sutton the lease of Whickham and Gateshead.[
Sutton bought Howard House from the Earl of Suffolk, which occupied the site of a former ]Carthusian
The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...
Monastery on the outskirts of 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 f ...
. Although dissolved by Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, parts of the monastery still survived. Sutton also purchased the manor of Castle Campes in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...
, which had been in possession of the de Vere family for over five hundred years, and, among other landholdings, he also owned the manors of Haddock, Littlebury, and Balsham, all near Saffron Walden in Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Riv ...
.[
In 1588 Sutton contributed £100 to defend the realm against the ]Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...
, and it has been suggested he owned, and perhaps commanded, ''The Sutton'', a barque of seventy tons and thirty men out of Weymouth, which captured a Spanish vessel and her cargo (estimated value of £20,000).
Later in his career, Sutton became one of the chief moneylenders in England, securing loans worth as little as a few shillings and as much as thousands of pounds to everyone from farmers to some of the most prominent courtiers, businesspeople, and politicians of his era, including Lord Burghley, Sir Edward Coke
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, Sir Percival Willoughby, Lord Compton, and the Earl of Sussex
Earl of Sussex is a title that has been created several times in the Peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The early Earls of Arundel (up to 1243) were often also called Earls of Sussex.
The fifth creation came in the Peer ...
, among others, generally at the standard rate of ten percent per annum.[
Sutton died on 12 December 1611 at his house in ]Homerton
Homerton ( ) is an area in London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south. In 2019, i ...
.[The ''Tan House'', not the contemporaneous Sutton House built by ]Ralph Sadleir
Ralph Sadleir (1579 – 12 February 1661) of Standon, Hertfordshire was an English landowner. He was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1609.
He was the eldest son, and heir, of Sir Thomas Sadleir (c. 1536 – 1607), lord of the manor of Standon, by ...
, then known as ''Bryck Place''; the house was finally demolished in 1805 for the creation of Sutton Place Hackney. He was then considered one of the richest individuals in England, with an estate worth approximately £4,836 per annum; and his accounts showed that he was personally worth over £50,000, mostly in the form of outstanding obligations and recognizances from the many people in debt to him. This immense wealth earned Sutton the nicknames among his contemporaries of "Croesus
Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC.
Croesus was r ...
" and "Riche Sutton".[
]
Legacy
Sutton left part of his fortune to be invested in establishing an almshouse
An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...
for 80 impoverished gentlemen, combined with a school for 40 boys, on the site of his house off Charterhouse Square
Charterhouse Square is a garden square, a pentagonal space, in Farringdon, in the London Borough of Islington, and close to the former Smithfield Meat Market. The square is the largest courtyard or yard associated with the London Charterhous ...
, on the outskirts of the City of London. This institution was to be named the Hospital of King James in Charterhouse, although it later became known as Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse. The almshouse survives on the original site; while the school, now Charterhouse School
(God having given, I gave)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president ...
, relocated to Godalming
Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlement ...
, Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
, in 1872. The London buildings were badly damaged by bombs during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, but were restored during the 1950s.
Sutton's personal arms, blazoned ''Or, on a chevron between three annulets gules three crescents of the field'', are still used by the school.
John Aubrey
John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the '' Brief Lives'', his collection of short biographical pieces. He was a pioneer archaeologist ...
is responsible for the almost certainly spurious legend that Sutton was the original of Volpone the fox in Ben Jonson
Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
's play '' Volpone''.
See also
*'' Case of Sutton's Hospital''
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Thomas
1532 births
1611 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
English philanthropists
English civil servants
Founders of English schools and colleges
16th-century English businesspeople
17th-century English businesspeople
English knights