Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet (; or Knevytt, Knyvett, Knevett, Knevitt; 1545 – 27 July 1622) was an English courtier and Member of Parliament who played a part in foiling the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

Family

Thomas Knyvet was the second son of Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and Anne Pickering, daughter of Sir Christopher Pickering of Killington,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

. She was the widow of

Francis Weston Sir Francis Weston (1511 – 17 May 1536) was a gentleman of the Privy Chamber at the court of King Henry VIII of England. He became a friend of the king but was later accused of high treason and adultery with Anne Boleyn, the king's second wi ...

who had been executed in 1536. His niece, Catherine Knyvet, was married to

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard ...

. On 21 July 1597, Knyvet married Elizabeth Hayward, the daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward and widow of Richard Warren of Claybury,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Career

Knyvet attended Jesus College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He was a Gentleman of the

Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

, and in 1592 was made Master at Arms. He was elected Member of Parliament for

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

in 1601. He served as Warden of the Royal Mint from 1599 to 1621. He was granted the manor of

Stanwell Stanwell is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in Surrey, England. It is west of central London. A small corner of its land is used as industrial land for nearby Heathrow Airport. The rest of the village is made up o ...

in 1603, and was knighted in 1604.

Jewels of Queen Elizabeth

In December 1603 and January 1604 Knyvett had orders from King James concerning jewels that had belonged to

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

. on Christmas Eve 1603 he brought to

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

some chests of jewels which he had kept at

Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the ...

on the instructions of

. Four chests had been the responsibility of Katherine Howard, Countess of Nottingham. The others boxes were open and the jewels examined. After discussion with Sir George Home,

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 ...

, and the

Earl of Nottingham :''See also Earl of Winchilsea'' Earl of Nottingham is a title that has been created seven times in the Peerage of England. It was first created for John de Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham, John de Mowbray in 1377, at the coronation of Richard ...

, some jewels were sent to the goldsmiths

John Spilman Sir John Spilman (also spelt Spielman) (died 1626) was a Lindau, Holy Roman Empire-born businessman who founded the first commercially successful paper-mill in England, establishing a factory on the River Darenth in Dartford, Kent in 1588.Dartford ...

and William Herrick for valuation, with an ivory coffer, and a "great rich glass set with diamonds rubies emeralds and pearls, made in the form of a woman upon a pillar or case holding a clock with diverse motions" brought from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. Knyvett also took some of the old queen's jewels to Peter Vanlore to exchange for a new piece with a large table ruby and two great lozenge diamonds.

Gunpowder plot

Knyvet was the most active intervener in foiling the

. On the evening of 26 October 1605, the Catholic Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away from Parliament during the opening, and to "retyre youre self into yowre contee whence yow maye expect the event in safti for ... they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament". Monteagle's letter was shown to King James. The

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

ordered Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he carried out with

Edmund Doubleday Edmund Doubleday (died December 1620) was an English vintner, lawyer, office-holder and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614. He was jointly responsible for the capture of Guy Fawkes in the Gunpowder Plot. Doubleday was acting as a ...

in the early hours of 5 November.

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educate ...

was arrested by Knyvet whilst leaving the cellar shortly after midnight. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.

Princess Mary

After foiling the plot Knyvet was given charge of the education of the short-lived Princess Mary. His tomb epitaph mentions his wife's role in the household of Mary and her sister Sophia, and Knyvet's other offices. By royal grant of a peerage he entered 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 ...

as Baron Knyvet of

Escrick Escrick is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the historic East Riding of Yorkshire, but since 1974 has come under North Yorkshire. It is approximately equidistant between Selby and York on what is now the A19 road ...

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 ...

in 1607. He was appointed a Privy Councillor, member of the council to Queen Anne, and

Warden of the Mint Warden of the Mint was a high-ranking position at the Royal Mint in England from 1216 to 1829. The warden was responsible for a variety of minting procedures and acted as the immediate representative of the current monarch inside the mint. The role ...

. In 1613, the manor of Staines was granted him outright. He maintained a long-running feud with

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peerage, peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after ...

. Knyvet's niece,

Anne Vavasour Anne Vavasour ( – ) was a maid of honour (1580–81) to Queen Elizabeth I of England, a member of the Vavasour family and the mistress of two aristocratic men. Her first lover was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had an illegit ...

, was the Earl's mistress, and on 21 March 1581 bore his illegitimate son, Edward Vere. On numerous occasions, servants on either side were killed. On one occasion, Knyvet injured Oxford, apparently in the leg. When Lord Knyvet died in July 1622 his will provided for the foundation of a free-school in

— the Lord Knyvet School was founded in 1624. An effigy of him and his wife features in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

of Stanwell's St Mary's parish church.

Knyvet House

Knyvet occupied as his London

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

the first house known on the site of

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

, the modern-day residence of the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

, in a large timber and brick building with an L-shaped garden. It was first leased to him in 1581 by

at which point it became known as Knyvet House, and his lifetime lease was extended in 1604 to extend to his heirs. The house was described by the parliamentary commissioners in 1650 as: :"...built part wth Bricke and part wth Tymber and Flemish qalle and covered with Tyle, consistinge of a Large and spacious hall, wainscoted round, well Lighted, and Paved wth brick Pavements, two parls whereof one is Wainscoted round from the seelinge to ye floor, one Buttery, one seller, one Large kitchen well paved with stone and well fitted and Joynted and well fitted wth dreser boards…. :"And above stayres in the first story one large and spacious dyneinge Roome, Wainscoted round from the seelinge to the floore, well flored, Lighted and seeled, and fitted wth a faire Chimney wth a foote pace of Paynted Tyle in the same. Also 6 more Roomes and 3 Closetts in the same flore all well lighted and seeled. And in the second story 4 garretts..." Knyvett built new lodgings for the women of Princess Mary's household in 1605, and he supervised improvements to

St James's Park St James's Park is a urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the ...

Mary Anne Everett Green Mary Anne Everett Green ( Wood; 19 July 1818 – 1 November 1895) was an English historian and archival editor. After establishing a reputation for scholarship with two multi-volume books on royal ladies and noblewomen, she was invited to assis ...

''Calendar State Papers Domestic, Addenda 1580-1625'' (London, 1872), p. 469
The house passed to his niece, Elizabeth Hampden, aunt of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

, and in her lifetime it adopted her surname. After the lease expired on Hampden House and garden in 1682, George Downing redeveloped the site and adjoining premises.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knyvet, Thomas 16th-century births 1622 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Barons in the Peerage of England High sheriffs of Norfolk Members of the Privy Council of England Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber

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 ...

People associated with the Gunpowder Plot English MPs 1572–1583 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611