Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry (c. 1606 – 27 October 1661) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1625 and 1629 and was subsequently a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He supported the

Royalist 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 gove ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Coventry was the son of

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (157814 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century. Education and early legal career He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1592, and the Inner Temple in ...

and his first wife Sarah Seabright, daughter of John Seabright. In 1625, he was elected Member of Parliament for Droitwich, and was re-elected the following year. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. W. R. Williams, ''Parliamentary History of the County of Worcester''
/ref> Coventry was appointed one of the Council of Wales and the Marches on 2 May 1633. He became a Compensation Commissioner for the Avon on 9 March 1637. On 14 January 1640, he succeeded to the title Baron Coventry on the death of his father. He was joint Commissioner of Array in

in 1642, and signed the Engagement with the King at

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. In 1642 he defended

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

against the Parliamentary army, but was defeated by Colonel Sandys. He submitted to Parliament in October 1642, and in May 1643 was given permission to go abroad on health grounds. He was back in England the following year. On 15 January 1644, the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

were ordered to freeze the money and goods he had in the Company. On 15 April, he was assessed at £3,000 and on 20 September he was assessed at £1,500 by the House of Lords. On 11 April 1645 all his goods and chattels in his house at

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

were to be seized, inventoried and sold in order to pay off the fine of £1,500. He was suspected of having Royalist sympathies in 1651, and of supporting Charles II. He was cleared of the charges, but was imprisoned for a time in 1655. Coventry died from

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

in his toes at his house in

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

on 27 October 1661, at the age of about 54. He was buried at Croome d’Abitot church. In his will, dated 31 August 1657, he left £500 in charity to the poor of

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

. Coventry married Mary Craven, daughter of Sir William Craven, former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, on 2 April 1627. His younger son

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 ...

was created

Earl of Coventry Earl of Coventry is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation for the Villiers family was created in 1623 and took its name from the city of Coventry. It became extinct in 1687. A decade later, the second ...

in 1697.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, Thomas 1600s births 1661 deaths 2 Members of the Parliament of England for Droitwich Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 Cavaliers