Thomas Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby of Parham (c.1602–1691/92) was an English

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

. He was born in about 1602, son of Sir Thomas Willoughby and Mary Thornhaugh (Thornley), and grandson of

Charles Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby of Parham Charles Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby of Parham (c.1536/7 – d. 1610–12) was the only son of William Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby of Parham, and Elizabeth Heneage. Family Charles Willoughby, born about 1536/7, was the only son of Willi ...

and Lady Margaret Clinton.

Family

He married Eleanor Whittle, heiress and daughter of Hugh and Mary Whittle, of

Horwich Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...

on 22 February 1639 (or 1640). After marriage they lived at Old Lord's Farm in Horwich, the area is still known as 'Old Lords Estate', the family inherited leases of a substantial amount of land from Horwich Moor to Anderton through the will of Nicolas Whittle of Horwich, 1597.The freeholder Sir Thomas Barton commissioned a map of 1620 which shows the Whittle holdings reflected in a large area of field names on the Rivington side of Horwich. These land holdings passed to the Shaw family, distributed in the will of Honourable Elizabeth Shaw in 1797. Thomas and Eleanor had two sons and three daughters, Hugh, the eldest son and Francis who in 1696 married Eleanor Rothwell of Haigh. Their daughters were Mary who married Samuel Greenhalgh of Adlington, Sarah and Abigail. Eleanor died aged 67 in 1665.

Military and Civic Life

Thomas was a staunch

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

and is closely associated with dissenting religious bodies. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

, he was a

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

and fought on the side of the Parliamentarians. He saw action in the first and

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

battles at

Middlewich Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...

in 1643, and at the

Bolton Massacre The Storming of Bolton, sometimes referred to as the "Bolton massacre", was an event in the First English Civil War which happened on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by Royalist forces under Prince R ...

in 1644.

School Governor

He was a governor of Rivington Grammar School during the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and after Restoration from 1650 until 1691. The school lacked income between 1650 and 1660 so Thomas travelled to London, York and Durham for affidavits and trials and secured the rental income for the school. In the school's records he is noted as

Gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the r ...

of Horwich. He served as Chairman of Governors in 1651, 1653–54, 1653, 1670, 1676 and 1683.

Succession

Thomas was called to parliament by writ 19 May 1685 subsequent to there being no other heir known at the time of the death of his cousin, Charles Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby of Parham in 1679. He was called to parliament as the 11th

Baron Willoughby of Parham Baron Willoughby of Parham was a title in the Peerage of England with two creations. The first creation was for Sir William Willoughby who was raised to the peerage under letters patent in 1547, with the remainder to his heirs male of body. An ...

1547 creation, however, the writ had created a new Barony and with it a new title of 1st Baron Willoughby of Parham (1685 creation). The title would have been inherited by Henry Willoughby, grandson of Sir Ambrose Willoughby, and great-grandson of Charles, the 2nd Baron. However, Henry Willoughby had emigrated to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

and his whereabouts was not known. The right to the first barony created by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...

in 1547 was later claimed by a descendant of Henry Willoughby as 16th Baron Willoughby of Parham in 1767.

Death

Thomas died in 1691 aged 89 and was buried under the chancel by the east window at the old Horwich Parish Church. Thomas was succeeded by his eldest son Hugh as the 12th Baron Willoughby of Parham, 2nd Baron of the 1685 creation.

References

Bibliography * . * . * * * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby Of Parham, Thomas, 11th Baron 1602 births 1691 deaths Peers of England created by James II Barons Willoughby of Parham