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

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, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He is buried in Hereford Cathedral 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 Monmouthsh ...

, 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, 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 Lord Privy Seal 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 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 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 accordanc ...

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, the Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, 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