Thomas Dacre, 6th Baron Dacre of

Gilsland Gilsland is a village in northern England about west of Hexham, and about east of Carlisle, which straddles the border between Cumbria and Northumberland. The village provides an amenity centre for visitors touring Hadrian's Wall and other f ...

(27 October 1387 – 5 January 1458) was a medieval English nobleman.

Biography

Thomas was the son and heir of William Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre of Gilsland (c. 1357–1399), and Joan Douglas, the illegitimate daughter of

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas (c. 1323 – 1 May 1384) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish nobleman, peer, magnate, and head of the Black Douglas family. Under his leadership, the Black Douglases continued their climb to pre-eminence i ...

. He was born at

Naworth Castle Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton, Carlisle, Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69 road (England), A69 road from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, on 27 October 1387, and baptized the following day in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

church. Thomas received livery of his father's lands at age 21 on 10 November 1408, and was summoned to

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1 December 1412 as 'Thomas Dacre of Gillesland' (Gisland). He held the office Chief Forrester of

Inglewood Forest Inglewood Forest is a large tract of mainly arable and dairy farm land with a few small woodland areas between Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle and Penrith, Cumbria, Penrith in the England, English non-metropolitan county of Cumbria or ancient county ...

. Before his father died on 20 July 1399, Dacre married Philippa Neville, daughter of

Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Earl Marshal (c. 136421 October 1425), was an English nobleman of the House of Neville. Origins Ralph Neville was born about 1364, the son of John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville by his wife Maud Percy ( ...

, and Margaret Stafford. Dacre became his father-in-law's ward after his father's death, as he was still under age. He died on 5 January 1458 and was buried at

Lanercost Priory Lanercost Priory was founded by Robert de Vaux, Sheriff of Cumberland, Robert de Vaux between 1165 and 1174, the most likely date being 1169, to house Augustinians, Augustinian Canon (priest), canons. The priory is situated in the village of Lan ...

. His wife was still living on 8 July 1453, but predeceased her husband.

Issue

Thomas and Philippa had seven sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Thomas, knight, married Elizabeth Bowet, daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Bowet, and had two daughters. He was living in 1453 but predeceased his father. The second son, Randolf, was childless, slain at the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

in 1461.

Humphrey Humphrey is both a masculine given name and a surname. An earlier form, not attested since Medieval times, was Hunfrid. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Medieval period :''Ordered chronologically'' *Hunfrid of Pr ...

, the third son, married Mabel Parr, daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal and by her had issue. The other sons – Ralph, Richard, George, and John – are thought to have died young. The eldest daughter, Joan, married Thomas, Lord Clifford, with issue. The younger, Margaret, married John Scrope (son of John 4th Lord Scrope of Masham), without issue. After Thomas's death in 1458, his granddaughter Joan (daughter of his eldest son) and her husband Richard Fiennes were recognized as heirs to the barony of Dacre. His second and third sons, Randolf and Humphrey, on the other hand, were each summoned to parliament as lords Dacre, in 1459 and 1482 respectively. His heirs general became known as barons Dacre "of the South", and his heirs male were called barons Dacre "of the North".

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Biography

Issue

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