Sir Thomas Peyton, 2nd Baronet, 18 August 1613 to 11 February 1684, was a member of the

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

from

Knowlton Court Knowlton Court is a Grade I listed manor house near Goodnestone, Kent, England that dates back to the Elizabethan period. The present front façade in the Queen Anne style, was added in 1715. Early history The Knowlton estate is recorded in t ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He supported the

Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gover ...

in the

War of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, ...

, and took part in a number of conspiracies to restore

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

during the 1649 to 1660

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

period. After the

Stuart Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

in May 1660, Peyton was appointed Deputy

Lord Lieutenant of Kent This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Kent. Since 1746, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Kent. Lords Lieutenant of Kent * Sir Thomas Cheney 1551 – 1558 * William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham 3 July ...

, and elected Member of Parliament for

. Despite receiving a number of lucrative government positions, he was in dire financial difficulties when he died in February 1684, leaving four daughters, and his lands were sold. Shortly before fleeing into exile in 1660 to escape prosecution as a

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

, his neighbour

John Dixwell John Dixwell, alias James Davids ( 160718 March 1689), was an English lawyer, republican politician and regicide. Born in Warwickshire, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms he held various administrative positions in Kent on behalf of Parliame ...

sold Peyton part of his

Broome Park Broome Park is a country house in Barham, within the City of Canterbury, Kent, England. It was built for Basil Dixwell between 1635 and 1638. In the early 20th century it was the country home of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum until his death at sea ...

estate. In return, one of Peyton's daughters married his nephew Basill Dixwell, which appears to have been a successful attempt to protect his property from confiscation.

Personal details

Peyton was the son of Sir Samuel Peyton, 1st Baronet, of Knowlton, and his wife Mary Aston, daughter of Sir

Roger Aston Sir Roger Aston (died 23 May 1612) of Cranford, Middlesex, was an English courtier and favourite of James VI of Scotland. Biography Aston was the illegitimate son of Thomas Aston (died 1553), Thomas Aston (died 1553). Scottish sources spell his n ...

. He inherited the

baronetcy 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 14th ...

and Knowlton Court on the death of his father in 1623.John Burke, John Bernard Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies''
/ref> In November 1640, Peyton was elected Member of Parliament for

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

. He was disabled from sitting in 1644 for supporting the king and was subsequently a member of The Action Party, a group of radicals dedicated to bringing down the Protectorate government. At some point around 1655, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London; on 7 August that year, Oliver Cromwell ordered John Barkstead, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, to allow Sir Thomas 'a prisoner in the Tower' leave 'for thirty-six days to take the waters at Tunbridge Wells'. (Beloe Papers catalogue, MS3273, Lambeth Palace Library, accessed via National Archives website, 4 May 2021.) After the Restoration, Peyton was elected MP for

from 1661 to 1679 in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

. Peyton died aged 70 in financial difficulty. Peyton had married three times; firstly a daughter of Sir Peter Osborne, secondly Cecilia Swan, widow of Sir William Swan, and thirdly Jane Monins, daughter of Sir William Monins. He left four daughters, who sold Knowlton Court to Admiral Sir John Narborough.

References

Sources

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Peyton, Thomas 1613 births 1684 deaths 202

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 ...

Cavaliers English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1661–1679 Deputy lieutenants of Kent Royalist military personnel of the English Civil War