Sir Thomas Isham, 3rd Baronet of Lamport (15 March 1656/57 – 26 July 1681) is known for a diary he wrote from 1671 to 1673 of his observations as a teenage member of the English
aristocracy
Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats.
Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...
.
Life
Thomas Isham II, the eldest son and second child of
Sir Justinian Isham I and his wife Vere Leigh, was born on 15 March 1656/57 in Northamptonshire. When his father died on 2 March 1675, Thomas succeeded at 19 years of age to the
baronetcy of
Lamport, Northamptonshire. He
matriculated at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
that June, three months after becoming baronet, but he would have only been able to spend a few months at most in his studies, as he embarked in October of the following year on a
tour of Europe with his cousin and tutor the
Reverend Zacchaeus Isham. Though it was not uncommon for the young English
gentry
Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...
of the time to tour the continent for several months as part of their education, Sir Thomas and Zacchaeus stayed a full two and a half years, a large part of their time spent in Italy collecting art works.
Returning to Lamport, Sir Thomas contracted to marry Mary van de Bempde, the daughter of a Dutch merchant, but he died of
smallpox in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
on 26 July 1681 before his marriage could take place. He was buried several days later on 9 August in
Lamport, and succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother
Sir Justinian Isham, who became the 4th baronet.
Diary
Sir Thomas is remembered mainly for a diary that he wrote in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
from 1671 to 1673 at the command of his father. It is made up largely of one-sentence entries, with occasional longer anecdotes of local newsworthy events, as relayed to the boy by visitors. His diary is noteworthy in that it provides a glimpse of the everyday life of a teenage member of the English gentry, as played out in a country estate. His diary first became widely available in 1875 when it was first published, but the most readily available edition is a 1971 publication of a translation by Norman Marlow with annotations by the 12th baronet Sir
Gyles Isham.
[Isham (1875), Marlow and Isham (1971).]
A portrait of Sir Thomas Isham painted about 1675 by Sir
Peter Lely
Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...
, about the time Thomas became baronet, hangs at
Lamport Hall, and there is a reduced copy of Lely's work by
Mary Beale.
See also
*
Zacheus Isham
Notes
References
* Brainard, Homer Worthington (1938),
A survey of the Ishams in England and America; eight hundred and fifty years of history and genealogy'' Tuttle publishing company, inc., Rutland, Vt, 672 p.
* Burdon, Gerald (1960), ''Sir Thomas Isham: an English collector in Rome, 1677-8,''
in Italian Studies, Maney Publishing, v. 15, p. 1-25. An abstract is available online a
Ingentaconnect accessed 5 April 2013.
*
* Isham, Sir Gyles (1969), ''Sir Thomas Isham: an English collector in Rome, 1677-8,: A Selection of Pictures, Engravings, Books and Manuscripts Lent by Sir Gyles Isham, Bart., from Lamport Hall, Northampton: Exhibited at Central Art Gallery, Northampton, 12th July to August, 1969''
* Isham, Rev. Robert (1875),
The journal of Thomas Isham, of Lamport: In the County of Northampton, from 1st Nov., 1671, to 30th Sept. 1673'' Miller and Leavins, Norwich, 127 p.
* Marlow, Norman and Isham, Sir Gyles (1971), ''The diary of Thomas Isham of Lamport (1658-81),'' Gregg Publishing, 343 p.
External links
Portrait of Sir Thomas Isham by Mary BealePortrait of Sir Thomas Isham by Peter Lely
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Thomas, Baronet, 03
1650s births
1681 deaths
17th-century English diarists
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Isham baronets
Burials in Northamptonshire
Deaths from smallpox in the United Kingdom
English male non-fiction writers