Thomas Madox (1666 – 13 January 1727) was a legal antiquary and historian, known for his publication and discussion of medieval records and charters; and in particular for his ''History of the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government revenu ...

'', tracing the administration and records of that branch of the state from the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

to the time of Edward II. It became a standard work for the study of English medieval history. He held the office of

historiographer royal Historiographer Royal is the title of an appointment as official chronicler or historian of a court or monarch. It was initially particularly associated with the French monarchy, where the post existed from at least 1550, but in the later 16th and 1 ...

from 1708 until his death.

Life

Madox was born in 1666. He applied himself at an early age to the study of the common law, and was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, though he was never called to the bar. He became a sworn clerk in the

Lord 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 i ...

's remembrance office (i.e. official archives), and afterwards joint clerk in the

Augmentation Office Thomas Cromwell established the Court of Augmentations, also called Augmentation Court or simply The Augmentation in 1536, during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. It operated alongside three lesser courts (those of General Surveyors (1540 ...

, which administered the crown estates; first with Charles Batteley, who died in May 1722, and afterwards with John Batteley. There he pursued his historical researches under the patronage of

Lord Somers Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancel ...

. He made his first appearance as an author with the publication of ''Formulare Anglicanum'' in 1702, concerning ancient charters, which Madox introduced with a learned dissertation on the subject. The principal materials for this work were obtained from the archives of the

court of augmentations Thomas Cromwell established the Court of Augmentations, also called Augmentation Court or simply The Augmentation in 1536, during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. It operated alongside three lesser courts (those of General Surveyors (1540 ...

. It is "justly" (according to the '' Dictionary of National Biography'') described by Bishop

William Nicolson William Nicolson (1655–1727) was an English churchman, linguist and antiquarian. As a bishop he played a significant part in the House of Lords during the reign of Queen Anne, and left a diary that is an important source for the politics of ...

as "of unspeakable service to our students in law and antiquities". On the motion of

Peter Le Neve Peter Le Neve (21 January 1661 – 24 September 1729) was an English herald and antiquary. He was appointed Rouge Dragon Pursuivant 17 January 1690 and created Norroy King at Arms on 25 May 1704. From 1707 to 1721 he was Richmond Herald of A ...

, Madox was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries in January 1708. In 1711 he published his ''History of the Exchequer'', with a dedication to the Queen and a long prefatory epistle to Lord Somers, giving an account of his researches among the public records to gather the materials for the work. Madox was subsequently sworn in and admitted to the office of

, in succession to

Thomas Rymer Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, critic, antiquary and historian. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish 16 volumes of the first edition of ''Foedera'', a work in 20 volumes conveying agreements betwe ...

, on 12 July 1714, with an attached salary of £200 a year. The last of his works Madox saw printed in his lifetime was ''Firma Burgi'', on early records concerning English towns and boroughs, dedicated to George I, published in 1723. Madox died on 13 January 1727, and was buried at

Arlesey Arlesey ( ) is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire. It is near the border with Hertfordshire, about three miles north-west of Letchworth Garden City, four miles north of Hitchin and six miles south of Biggleswade. Arlesey railway station p ...

, Bedfordshire. He was succeeded in the office of historiographer royal by Robert Stephens. A posthumous work, ''Baronia Anglica'', on the history and records of the feudal barons, appeared in 1736. A collection of further transcripts was bequeathed by his widow to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, as an addition to the Sloane Library. It ran to ninety-four volumes, folio and quarto, consisting chiefly of extracts of records from the Exchequer, the

Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

and

Close Rolls The Close Rolls () are an administrative record created in medieval England, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands by the royal chancery, in order to preserve a central record of all letters close issued by the chancery in the name of the Crown. ...

in the Tower, the

Cottonian Library The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631), an antiquarian and bibliophile. It later became the basis of what is now the British Library, which still holds the collection. ...

, the archives of Canterbury and Westminster, and the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; all that Madox had transcribed himself, intending them as materials for a ''Feudal History of England'' from the earliest times.DNB cites Nichols, ''Literary Anecdotes'', vol. 9, p. 645.

Personal life

Madox married Catharine, the daughter of Vigarus Edwards. He had no issue.

Works

* ''Formulare Anglicanum, or a Collection of Antique Charters and Instruments of divers kinds, taken from the Originals, placed under several Heads, and deduced (in a Series according to the Order of Time) from the Norman Conquest to the End of the Reign of King Henry VIII''. London, 1702, 441 pp. *
History and Antiquities of the Exchequer of the Kings of England ... from the Norman Conquest to the End of the Reign of ... Edward II
', London, 1711, 752 pp. plus annexes. An index was printed in ''Baronia Anglica'', and a second edition, in 2 vols., with the index, was published in London in 1769.
vol. 1vol. 2

Appended was a copy of the ''

Dialogue concerning the Exchequer The ''Dialogus de Scaccario'', or ''Dialogue concerning the Exchequer'', is a mediaeval treatise on the practice of the English Exchequer written in the late 12th century by Richard FitzNeal. The treatise, written in Latin, and known from four manu ...

'' (''De Scaccario''), erroneously ascribed to

Gervase of Tilbury Gervase of Tilbury ( la, Gervasius Tilberiensis; 1150–1220) was an English canon lawyer, statesman and cleric. He enjoyed the favour of Henry II of England and later of Henry's grandson, Emperor Otto IV, for whom he wrote his best known work, ...

, now believed to be by

Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal ( c. 1130 – 10 September 1198) was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England. Life In 1158 or 1159 Nigel, Bishop of Ely paid Henry II to appoint his natural son, Richard FitzNeal, as the king's tre ...

; also a Latin dissertation by Madox on the Great Roll of the Exchequer (the Pipe rolls). An English translation of these appendices, made by "a Gentleman of the Inner Temple", appeared at London in 1758. * ''An account of all the gold and silver coins ever used in England: particularly of their value, fineness, and allay, and the standards of gold and silver in all the respective reigns for the last six hundred years: likewise of it's plenty and scarcity'', London, 1718, 23pp. * ''Firma Burgi, or an Historical Essay concerning the Cities, Towns, and Boroughs of England, taken from Records,'' London, 1723, and again 1726, 297 pp. * ''Baronia Anglica; an History of Land-honours and Baronies, and of Tenure in ''capite'' Verified by Records'', London, 1736, 292pp.; reissued in 1741.

Notes

References

* The entry cites: **

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

Add MS 4572, art. 9; 32476 fol. 54; **

Samuel Ayscough Samuel Ayscough (1745–1804) was a librarian and indexer, who was described as the "Prince of Index Makers". Family and early life Samuel Ayscough was the grandson of William Ayscough, a stationer and printer of Nottingham, where he introduced ...

's ''Catalogue of MSS.'' Pref. p. vi and pp. 236, 239, 262, 280, 735; **

Egerton Brydges Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 1st Baronet (30 November 1762 – 8 September 1837) was an English bibliographer and genealogist. He was also Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. Educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The King ...

''Restituta'', i. 67; ** John Nichols's ''Literary Anecdotes'', vols. 1, p. 243; 7, p. 243; 9, p. 645; ** John Nichols's ''Illustration of Literature'', vol. 4, pp. 155, 156; ** W. T. Lowndes's ''Bibliographer's Manual'' (Buhn), p. 1448; **

's ''English Historical Library''.

Life

Personal life

Works

Notes

References

Further reading