Eubule Thelwall (1562–1630) by Gilbert Jackson; kept at NLW

Sir Eubule Thelwall (c. 1562 – 8 October 1630) was a Welsh lawyer, academic and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

between 1624 and 1629. He was principal of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...

, from 1621 to 1630.

Life

Thelwall was the fifth son of John Wynne Thelwall. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and was a scholar at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he received his BA in 1577. Thelwall matriculated at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

on 14 July 1579, and was awarded his MA on 13 June 1580. He was Chief Master of the Alienation office from 1579 to 1599 and was called to the bar in 1599. On 8 March 1605, he was appointed steward and recorder of Ruthin for life. He built the house of

Plas Coch Plas Coch is an area of the community of Rhosddu, in the city of Wrexham, Wales. A major retail and educational area of Wrexham, it lies to the north-west of Wrexham city centre. Formerly known as Lower Stansty, the term has fallen out of use in ...

and on 28 December 1607 he received a joint grant of the office of Prothonotary and Clerk of the Crown in Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, and Merionethshire for life, in reversion after the death of Richard Fowler. He became a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

on 16 June 1612. From 1617 to 1630 he was a Master in Chancery.W R Williams ''The Parliamentary History of the Principality of Wales''
/ref> Thelwall became Principal of

in 1621, and remained in this post until his death. He was knighted on 29 June 1619. In 1622, he succeeded in securing a new charter and statutes for the college from King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, having spent £5,000 on the hall and chapel, which earned him the title of its second founder. In 1624, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. He was treasurer of Gray's Inn in 1625. In 1626 he was elected MP for Denbighshire again. He was re-elected MP for Denbighshire in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. Thelwall died on 8 October 1630, aged 68 and was buried in Jesus College Chapel where a monument was erected to his memory by his brother Sir Bevis Thelwall (Page of the King's Bedchamber and Clerk of the Great Wardrobe). Another brother

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

was also MP for Denbighshire. Thelwall never married, and left his estate (Plas Coch in the parish of Llanychan, Denbighshire) to his nephew John. There is a picture of him as a child in Jesus College.

References

*Simon Healy, ''Thelwall, Sir Eubule (c.1557-1630)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27166, accessed 27 June 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thelwall, Eubule 1560s births 1630 deaths Year of birth uncertain People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Principals of Jesus College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Members of Gray's Inn 16th-century Welsh lawyers 17th-century Welsh politicians Welsh barristers English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629