Sir Thomas Honywood

2 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Sir Thomas Honywood (1586–1666), of Marks Hall in Essex, was a soldier during the English Civil War, later a Member of Parliament.

The eldest son of Robert Honywood and head of a prominent Essex family, he was knighted in 1632. On the outbreak of the Civil War he declared for the parliamentary side, and was one of the Committee for Essex in 1648. In the same year, under the command of Thomas Fairfax, he led the Essex forces at the Siege of Colchester. In 1649, he was one of those named in the commission to try the King, but did not serve on the court. He also led a regiment at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

Sir Thomas was elected to Parliament as member for Essex in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate, and in 1658 was raised to Cromwell's new Upper House. However, he was distrusted by the hardline Puritans and considered "rather soft in his spirit". He retired from public life after the Restoration.

He married Hester (D.1681) daughter of John Le Mott-Merchant of London. She was the widow of John Manning-Merchant of London (D.1635). His daughter Elizabeth Honywood married Sir John Cotton and his son was John Le Mott Honywood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Honywood

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Sadly only this year has the book of biographies for the Interregnum parliaments been made available in hard copy -- for 700/.s -- $900. So it may not be in my lifetime that Sir Thomas Honywood's bio gets posted here.

But his grandson's, Sir William Honywood, 2nd Bart MP (1654-1748), is available on line:

The opening paragraph says:
"Honeywood’s ancestors were established in Kent by the reign of Henry III, and first sat for Hythe in 1393.
[SIR WILLIAM] "Honeywood’s grandfather [OUR SIR THOMAS] served on the county committee until 1648, but his father [THOMAS' SON, SIR EDWARD HONYWOOD, 1st Bt.] is said to have sent £3,000 to Charles II in exile, for which he received a baronetcy at the Restoration, and [GRANDSON SIR WILLIAM] Honeywood himself entered politics as a court supporter."

Appropriate buttering of both sides of the slice of bread ensured some security from reprisals -- or, in this case, a Baronetcy.
https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/…

For a family so active since 1393, curiously none of them served James I or Charles I.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1660