Sir Thomas Gerard, 1st Baronet (1560 – 16 February 1621) was an English 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 ...

at various times between 1597 and 1621. Gerard was the son of Sir Thomas Gerard, of Bryn Hall and his wife Elizabeth Port, daughter of Sir John Port, of

Etwall Etwall () is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, southwest of Derby on the A50. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,906. Geography Etwall is located between the A516 bypass and the A50 in south Derbyshire. The A516 draws hea ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. His brother Fr.

John Gerard John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...

, was later ordained a

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

of the

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and operated an underground ministry in

Elizabethan England The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

. Thomas Gerard matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 20 July 1578, aged 18. In 1579 he was a student of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

. His parents and brother John were Catholics and he was tutored by a Catholic. His first wife Cecily was "a recusant and indicted thereof" and he employed a "notorious recusant" to educate his child and was described as "of evil affection in religion" in 1590. Gerard was involved in an unfortunate incident in July 1583. He and wife were looking after a young Lancashire heiress Suzanne Abraham. A fencing master who was a relation of the girl invited them to a house in London near

Cecil House Cecil House refers to two historical mansions on The Strand, London, in the vicinity of the Savoy. The first was a 16th-century house on the north side, where the Strand Palace Hotel now stands. The second was built in the early 17th century on ...

. While the rest of the women were playing cards, the wife of the fencing master took Suzanne Abraham upstairs where she was secretly married to a stranger to gain her fortune. Recorder Fleetwood was appalled at the case. Henry Ellis, ''Original Letters'', series 1 vol. 2 (London, 1824), pp. 292-3. Nevertheless, in 1597, 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

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. History of Parliament Online - Thomas Gerard
/ref> He succeeded his father to the family estates in September 1601. He was knighted on 18 April 1603. When the order of baronet was first instituted on 22 May 1611, he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

and the £1,000, that was due to the Crown for such creation, was returned in consideration of his Father's sufferings in the cause of the King's mother Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1614 he was elected MP for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He was elected MP for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

in 1621. George E. Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' (1900)
/ref> Gerard died at the age of about 60 and was buried at St Margaret's, Westminster, on 16 February 1621. Gerard married firstly Cecily Maney, daughter of Sir Walter Maney, of Staplehurst in about 1580, with whom he had a son and heir

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 ...

. He married secondly, after 1606, Mary Lee, widow of Sir Robert Lee, Lord Mayor of London, and formerly of William Smith, of London and daughter of

Sir James Hawes ''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 ...

who was also Lord Mayor. His third wife was Mary Uvedale, widow of Sir Edward Uvedale and formerly of the Hon. Anthony Browne and daughter of Sir William Dormer, of Wing, Buckinghamshire. He had no children by his second and third wives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Thomas 1560 births 1621 deaths Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Lancashire Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Liverpool People from Wigan Baronets in the Baronetage of England Burials at St Margaret's, Westminster English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622