Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland, 8th Baron Greystoke (''ca.'' 1527 – 1 July 1566) was an
English Member of Parliament and after his father's death a
peer and major
landowner in the
counties of
Cumberland,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and
Northumberland.
Early life
Born about 1527, Dacre was the eldest of the five sons of
William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre (''c.'' 1493 – 1563), by his marriage to Elizabeth Talbot, a daughter of
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury and of
Anne Hastings, a daughter of
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings
William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (c. 1431 – 13 June 1483) was an English nobleman. A loyal follower of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses, he became a close friend and one of the most important courtiers of King Edward IV, ...
. His father was Captain of
Norham Castle, Steward of
Penrith,
Warden of the West Marches 1527–1534 and 1555–1563, and
Governor of Carlisle.
[Dacre of Gilsland, Baron (E, 1473 – abeyant 1569)]
at cracroftspeerage.co.uk One of his brothers was
Leonard Dacre.
The young Dacre was
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
ed in 1547. He married firstly Lady Elizabeth Neville, the sixth daughter of
Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, by his marriage to Lady Catherine Stafford, the second daughter of
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. There were no children of the marriage.
[
In 1553 he was elected to the ]House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...
as one of the two Members of Parliament for Cumberland.[
]
Later life and death
He married secondly Elizabeth Leyburn (1536–1567), the eldest daughter of Sir James Leyburne of Cunswick, Westmorland, by whom he had two sons: Francis, who died in infancy, and George (''c.'' 1561 – 17 May 1569); and three daughters: Anne (21 March 1557 – 19 April 1630), Mary (4 July 1563 – 7 April 1578), and Elizabeth (born 12 December 1564).[
Dacre succeeded his father as Baron Dacre on 18 November 1563, but survived him for less than three years and was never summoned to parliament.][ Nicholas Harris Nicolas, William Courthope, ''The Historic Peerage of England'' (Elibron facsimile edition)]
p. 139
/ref>
Ferguson's ''A History of Cumberland'' notes the demise of the Dacre family which followed:
After Dacre's death on 1 July 1566, his widow remarried Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, but she died in childbirth on 4 September 1567, so Dacre's young orphaned children were left as members of the Duke's household. Dacre's only surviving son died in 1569, when the barony of Dacre, although claimed by Dacre's brother Leonard, was determined by Commissioners swayed by the Duke to have fallen into abeyance, leaving Dacre's three daughters as co-heiresses. By the age of fourteen, each of the three had been married to one of their step-brothers, the sons of the Duke.[, accessed 29 December 2010][, accessed 29 December 2010][, accessed 29 December 2010] In 1571, Anne married Philip Howard (1557–1595), later 20th Earl of Arundel;[ before 9 May 1577, Mary had married Thomas Howard (1561–1626), later 1st Earl of Suffolk;][ and on 28 October 1577 Elizabeth married Lord William Howard (1563–1640), of Naworth Castle, Cumberland, and of Henderskelfe Castle, ]Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, the Duke's third son.[
Dacre's daughter Mary Howard died on 7 April 1578 at the age of fourteen,][ but his eldest child, Anne Howard, survived until 1630.][ His middle daughter, Elizabeth, gained the nickname "Bess of the Broad Apron", thanks to the size of the estates which came to her.][
]
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dacre, Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron
1520s births
1566 deaths
English MPs 1553 (Mary I)
Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre
16th-century English nobility
4
Barons Greystoke