Thomas Whitmore (12 February 1599 – May 1677) was an English lawyer and 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 ...

from 1659. Whitmore was the eldest son of John Whitmore of Ludstone and his wife Frances Billingsley, daughter of William Billingsley of Astley, Shropshire. He was educated at New Inn Hall and at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in 1617. He entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1620 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1626. He was sympathetic to the Royalist cause in the Civil War and in 1646 he was assessed at £300, later reduced to £60, by the committee for the advance of money. In 1648 he became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of Middle Temple. He was made freeman of

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

in 1655 and was

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

of the town from 1655 to 1676. He was a J.P. for Shropshire from 1656 until his death and was made freeman of Wenlock in 1658. History of Parliament Online - Thomas Whitmore
/ref> In 1659, Whitmore was elected Member of Parliament for Wenlock in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. He was re-elected MP for Wenlock in April 1660 for the Convention Parliament. On the Restoration, he was one of those proposed as Knight of the Royal Oak, with an annual income estimated at £600. He was recorder of Wenlock by April 1660, commissioner for

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

for the

Oxford circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

in July 1660 and commissioner for assessment for Shropshire from August 1660 until his death. In 1662 he was commissioner for oyer and terminer for the Shropshire circuit and commissioner for corporations until 1663. He was commissioner for recusants in 1675. Whitmore died at the age 78 and was buried at Claverley on 30 May 1677. Whitmore married Anne Corbet, daughter of Thomas Corbet of Longnor, Shropshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitmore, Thomas 1599 births 1677 deaths Lawyers from Shropshire Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Cavaliers English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 Politicians from Shropshire 17th-century English lawyers