Sir Thomas Heneage PC (1532 – 17 October 1595) was an English politician and courtier at the court of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Early and personal life

Thomas Heneage the Younger was born at

Copt Hall Copped Hall, also known as Copt Hall or Copthall, is a mid-18th-century English country house close to Waltham Abbey, Essex, which has been undergoing restoration since 1999. Copped Hall is visible from the M25 motorway between junctions 26 and ...

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, the son of Sir Robert Heneage and Lucy Buckton. Robert and his brother Thomas were members of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

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 ...

, the latter holding the important office of

Groom of the Stool The Groom of the Stool (formally styled: "Groom of the King's Close stool, Close Stool") was the most intimate of an List of English monarchs, English monarch's courtiers, responsible for assisting the king in excretion and hygiene. The physica ...

. Thomas Heneage was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. In 1554 Heneage married Anne Poyntz, daughter of Sir Nicholas Poyntz and Joan Berkeley. Their only daughter

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

married Sir Moyle Finch, Bt and was created Countess of Winchilsea. Following Anne's death in 1593, he married Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton on 2 May 1594; this marriage was childless.

Career

Heneage was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Stamford in 1553, before sitting for

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

from 1559. He was then elected for

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1563 but chose to sit for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. He was again returned for Lincolnshire in 1571 and 1572, and for

in 1584, 1586, 1589, and 1593. He became a courtier under

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Retrieved 10-08-2009 He became 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 ...

about 1565 at around that time, she flirted with him, making her

favourite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...

, jealous. However, Heneage had so far been on good terms with Leicester and the Earl, in his 1587 will, called him "my good old friend". In 1570 he rose to Treasurer of the Queen's Privy Chamber, and was knighted in 1577. In 1586, Heneage was sent by the Queen to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He was to convey to the

States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to: Currently in use * Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000 * States Gener ...

her strong protest of the Earl of Leicester having accepted their offer of the title

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. Heneage read out publicly Elizabeth's letters of disapproval before the Dutch politicians, Leicester, their new Governor General, having to stand nearby. He became Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and was sworn of the

Privy Council of England The Privy Council of England, also known as His (or Her) Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (), was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England. Its members were often senior members of the House of Lords and the House of ...

in 1587, before being appointed

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

in 1590. He was also a friend of

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

.Hutchinson p. 354 and a colleague of Sir Christopher Hatton acting as an intermediary between the Queen and Hatton regarding rivalry between Hatton and Sir Walter Raleigh for the Queen's affections. Heneage died on 17 October 1595 and was buried in

Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of London, Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Paul of Tarsus, Saint Paul, ...

. His grave and monument were destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

in 1666. A modern monument in the crypt of the rebuilt cathedral lists him as one of the important graves lost."Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p99: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909

Notes

* Deacon. M. p32 etc.

References

*Chamberlin, Frederick: ''Elizabeth and Leycester'' Dodd, Mead & Co. 1939 *Hutchinson, Robert: ''Elizabeth's Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that saved England'' Phoenix 2007 *Wilson, Derek: ''Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533–1588'' Hamish Hamilton 1981 *Deacon, Malcolm: ''The Courtier and the Queen: Sir Christopher Hatton & Elizabeth I'' Park Lane Publishing 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heneage, Thomas Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 1532 births 1595 deaths Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of England People from Epping English MPs 1553 (Mary I) English MPs 1559 English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Burials at St Paul's Cathedral Court of Henry VIII