Thomas Knollys - Lord Mayor of London

• Preferred Name: Thomas Knollys - Lord Mayor of London^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}
  
• Alternate Name: Thomas Knolls
  
• Alternate Name: Thomas of North Mimms
  
• Gender: M
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Knight
  
• Birth:: 1350 in England with note: Date and place unknown
  
• Death: 15 SEP 1435 in London, Middlesex, England
  
• Occupation: Lord Mayor of London, Citizen and Grocer with note: Geni
  
• Occupation: Lord Mayor of London
  
• FSID: LHDZ-RKG
  
• Birth: 1350 in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England at LATI: N1.7248 LONG: E0.2087 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Burial: 1435 in Saint Augustine With Saint Faith Watling Street, London, England at LATI: N1.5135 LONG: E0.097 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Sir Thomas Knollys or Knolles (died 1435) was an English businessman in London who was active in both local and national government.
  Born about 1350, he was once thought to be descended from the soldier Sir Robert Knollys but modern sources give his father as Richard. There were obviously close links with Sir Robert, who named Thomas as one of his executors in 1389.
  Career
  Before 1387 he had become a member of the Grocers' Company, which he served as warden and as master, contributing to the building of their new hall in Poultry and to the rebuilding of the guild church of St. Antholin in Watling Street, where he lived. In addition to his main business interests in goods and properties, he also became a major financier, lending extensively to other businessmen and to the government.
  In local government, he was an alderman by 1393, Sheriff of London in 1394 and twice served as Lord Mayor in 1399 and in 1410, in his second term being responsible for rebuilding the Guildhall.
  In two brief royal appointments, he was collector of customs duties on wool for London in 1400 and joint treasurer of war finances in 1404. In October 1416 he became an MP for the City of London as one of the two aldermanic representatives.
  In addition to his London properties, in 1391 he bought and later extended a country estate at North Mimms in Hertfordshire. After 1484, upon the death of his grandson Robert without sons, moieties of the property were inherited by Robert's two daughters: Anne who married Henry Frowick, and Elizabeth the wife of James Stracheley.
  
  He was buried in St Antholin's beside his wife and his will made on 20 May 1435 was proved on 11 July 1435 at Lambeth.
  
  Family
  By 1371 he had married Joan (died 1431) who in their sixty years together had nineteen children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived their father. His eldest son Thomas (died 1446), who inherited his businesses and properties, was through his younger son Richard the ancestor of the courtier Sir Francis Knollys.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Knollys
  
  ..................................................................
  
  See also
  Knollys family
  List of Sheriffs of the City of London
  List of Lord Mayors of London
  City of London (elections to the Parliament of England)
  References
  Boase, G. C. (1892). "Knollys, Sir Francis (1511/12–1596), politician". Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXXI. Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Knollys, Francis" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  Rawcliffe, C. (1993), "Knolles, Thomas (d. 1435), of London", in J.S. Roskell, L. Clark and C. Rawcliffe (eds.), 'The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, Boydell & Brewer, retrieved 31 July 2017
  Nightingale, Pamela. "Knolles, Thomas (d. 1435), merchant and mayor of London". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52250.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  "Chronological list of aldermen: 1302-1400". British History Online. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  William Page, ed. (1908), "Parishes: North Mimms", A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 2, London, pp. 251–261, retrieved 1 August 2017
  The text of his will, in Latin, is printed in E.F. Jacob (ed.), The Register of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury 1414-1443 Canterbury and York Society, no.42 (Wills), (Oxford University Press 1937), pp. 519-26.
  Categories: 1435 deaths
  
  thomas knollys
  ******************************************* Thomas Knollys
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Sir Thomas Knollys (died 1435) was Sheri
  
  Thomas Knollys
  Sir Thomas Knollys, Lord Mayor of London was born to Sir Robert Knollys and Lady Constance de Beverley. He was twice married, firstly o a lady named Isabell. From this union was born a son and a daugh
  
  Sir Thomas Knollys or Knolles (died 1435)
  Sir Thomas Knollys or Knolles (died 1435) was an English businessman in London who was active in both local and national government.
  
  «b»Origins«/b»
  Born about 1350, he was once thought to be descende
  
  === Lord Mayor of London in 1399 and 1410. ===
  Lord Mayor of London in 1399 and 1410.
  
  He held a Membership in the Worshipful Company of Grocers -- The Company was responsible for maintaining standards for the purity of spices and for the setting of certain weights and measures.
  
  He was also Lord Mayor of London in 1410.
  
  The last will and testament of Thomas Knolles.
  
  In the name of God, Amen. I, Thomas Knolles senior, citizen and grocer of London, being of sound mind and body and with good memory, on 20 May 1435 in the 13th year of the reign of King Henry VI, make and set out this my testament in the following manner. First, I leave and commend my soul to almighty God, my creator and my savior, to the Blessed Virgin Mary his mother, and to all the saints, and my body to be buried in the church of St. Antholin, London. I bequeath to the high altar of that church, [in recompense] for forgotten offerings, ten pounds. To each stipendiary chaplain of the church, 6s.8d to pray for my soul. I bequeath 13s.4d to the principal cleric of that church and 6s.8d to his assistant there. I bequeath £20 to be spent on repairs to the fabric of the church, on whatever is of greatest need or most appropriate. I bequeath to each of the four orders of friars in London – that is, the Friars Preacher, the Minorites, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians – 40s. to pray for my soul. I bequeath to the hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem outside Bishopsgate, London, 20s. to be distributed among the infirm residents. For the same purpose, I bequeath 20s. to the hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate.
  
  I bequeath to my son Thomas Knolles each and all household items, decorations, utensils, cloths, bed fittings, table linens, precious objects and vessels of gold and silver, whether gilded or not, that are part of my residence – that is, in the hall, the chamber, the storeroom, the kitchen, and other parts of my house. I bequeath to my son William Knolles £66.13s.4d, wishing that this sum be in the safekeeping of my son Thomas, who is to use his good discretion in paying it out to my son William. I bequeath £66.13s.4d to each of Robert and Richard, sons of my son Thomas Knolles, and to Beatrice his daughter; it is my wish that all those children of my son Thomas, while they are in their minority and until they are married, together with the £200 I have bequeathed them, be and remain in the custody, under the control, and at the disposition of the children's father Thomas Knolles, under guarantees made in relation to the same before the mayor and aldermen of London, without any interest being due thereon. If any of the children of my son Thomas should die before reaching the age of majority or before getting married, then I wish and bequeath that the share of the deceased individual be turned over and remain to he or they of the surviving children; this to apply to each of them. If all the children of my son Thomas should die before reaching the age of majority or before getting married, then I leave the above bequest of £200 for my son Thomas or his executors to put towards, dispose of, and distribute for [the benefit of] my soul and the souls of my late wife Joan, my parents, our benefactors and all those to whom we are obliged, and all the faithful deceased; such as through the celebration of masses, hand-outs to the poor, road repairs, dowries for poor girls of good reputation, discharge of the debts of those imprisoned as debtors, and other works of charity and compassion such as seem best to Thomas or his executors, with the intent of pleasing God and furthering the salvation of my soul and the other souls mentioned.
  
  I bequeath to my daughters Beatrice, Margery, and Margaret – that is, to each of them – a gold ring worth a hundred shillings. I bequeath to Joan the wife of Robert Shelley esq. a gold ring worth a hundred shillings. I bequeath twenty pounds to the fabric of North Mymms church. I bequeath 6s.8d to each of my poor tenants at North Mymms. I bequeath £5 to Thomas Bryght; and £6.13s.4d to my servant John Helder. I bequeath £3.6s.8d to my servant Alice Geret. I bequeath 40s. to my servant Alice Haukyns. I bequeath 40s. to the nuns of Sopwell, to pray for my soul. I bequeath 40s. to the nuns of Pray, to intercede for my soul. I bequeath £13.6s.8d to my servant William Harry, on condition that William shows diligence in supporting and helping my executors to collect all my debts.
  
  I bequeath twenty pounds to be distributed and disposed of among poor London householders, wherever it can be applied to most effect, at the best judgment of my executors. I bequeath £10 to be disposed of among the poor and the needy residing in the parish of St. Antholin. I bequeath £10 to be disposed of among poor men of my mystery in London, applied wherever it seems to my executors needed and appropriate. I bequeath 4d. to each person incarcerated in the prisons of Newgate, Ludgate, Fleet, Marshalsea, and King's Bench, to pray for my soul. I wish my executors to reward all my other servants whom I have not named in this testament; that is, to each of them according to the good service they have given me, according to the best judgment of my executors. I bequeath one hundred pounds to dispose of in discharging those held in the prisons of Ludgate and Newgate for debts of forty pounds and more, giving to those imprisoned a hundred shillings in each case where having it will bring about their release, without any deceit, fraud or deception.
  
  I bequeath twenty pounds to each of my executors for willingly shouldering the burden of fulfilling this my testament. As for the residue of all my goods, chattels, and debts [owed me], wherever they may be (after my own debts have been paid, my burial has been duly and properly taken care of, and this my testament has been fulfilled) I give and bequeath them in their entirety to be put towards, distributed, and disposed of for my soul and the other souls mentioned, by my executors – especially, chiefly, and principally by my son Thomas Knolles my chief executor – both through the celebration of masses, hand-outs to the poor, road repairs, dowries for poor girls of good reputation, and discharge of the debts of those imprisoned as debtors, and through the purchase of russet cloth to be made into gowns to clothe and attire poor and needy men and women; [this to be done] to [my] best advantage, whether in the city of London or in the countryside, along with other charitable works such as seems to my son Thomas most likely to please God and further the salvation of my soul and the other souls mentioned.
  
  Of this my testament I make, designate and appoint my son Thomas Knolles as my chief executor and Richard Hakedy citizen and grocer of London as his co-executor and assistant, to carry out truly and faithfully each and every thing specified above. In testimony to which, I have set to my seal to this document. Drawn up at London on the above date.
  
  Codicil:
  
  In the name of God, Amen. I, Thomas Knolles senior, citizen and grocer of London, being of sound mind and memory, have on 29 June 1435 in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Henry VI made and set out my testament in the following manner with regard both to my brewhouse called the Crane on the Hoop with its appurtenances in Fleet Street in St. Dunstan's parish in the suburbs of London, which once was Thomas Duke's, and to my shop with dwellings built above it and their appurtenances situated in the parish of St. Michael Cornmarket in West Cheap, London.
  
  First, I leave and commend my soul to almighty God, my creator and my savior, to the Blessed Virgin Mary his mother, and to all the saints, and my body to be buried in the church of St. Antholin, London.
  
  I give and bequeath by this my testament to mag. Reginald Kentwode, dean of the cathedral church of St. Paul of the city of London and to the chapter of that place and their successors the entire house that is my brewery called the Crane, with all vessels and utensils (moveable and immoveable) that belong to the brewhouse, and all other of its appurtenances. Which brewhouse with appurtenances I, Thomas Knolles senior, lately had for myself, my heirs and assigns in perpetuity, by the demise and feoffment of Thomas Pulter clerk. The which brewhouse, called the Crane, with appurtenances is situated beside the tenement once held by William Yeman, belonging to the church of St. Dunstan, Fleet Street, to the west, and the tenement of the said dean and chapter to the east; and it extends in length from that tenement of dean and chapter at the north end, as far as the highway of Fleet Street at the south end.
  
  I also give and bequeath by this my testament to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's church and their successors my entire shop with dwellings built above and its appurtenances in the parish of St. Michael Cornmarket. Which shop with dwellings built above and appurtenances I, Thomas Knolles, lately had for myself, my heirs and assigns in perpetuity, by the demise and feoffment of Thomas Pulter and John Fuller clerks. And which shop with dwellings built above and appurtenances is situated between tenements that belong to St. Paul's church on the east and west sides, the highway of West Cheap on the north side, and the great belltower of the church of St. Paul on the south side.
  
  The dean and chapter and their successors are to have and to hold in perpetuity the brewhouse called the Crane in Fleet Street together with all vessels and utensils (moveable and immoveable) that belong to the brewhouse, and its other appurtenances, as well as the shop with dwellings built above and its appurtenances in the parish of St. Michael Cornmarket, in pure and perpetual almoign, of the chief lords of that fee by the services due therefrom and customarily owed by right; [in return] for praying during all future time for my soul, the souls of all to whom I am obliged, and those of all the faithful deceased. Of this my testament
  
  === Mayor of London ===
  Thomas Knollys served as Lord Mayor of London in 1399 and 1410. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Knollys
  
  === Neuman-Smith-Goodale Family and Ancestor ===
  Neuman-Smith-Goodale Family and Ancestors
  Jamie Allen's Family Tree & Ancient Genealogical Allegation
  
  === Sir Thomas Knoylls ===
  About Sir Thomas I Knollys, Lord Mayor of London
  Parentage undocumented.
  
  Knollys, the name of an English family descended from Sir Thomas Knollys (died 1435), Lord Mayor of London. The first distinguished member of the family was Sir Francis Knollys (c. 1514–1596), English statesman, son of Robert Knollys, or Knolles (died 1521), a courtier in the service and favour of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Robert had also a younger son, Henry, who took part in public life during the reign of Elizabeth I and who died in 1583. From the time of Sir Francis, the family were associated with Greys Court at Rotherfield Greys and Caversham Park, then in Oxfordshire, as well as the nearby town of Reading in Berkshire, where the family's private chapel could once be seen in the church of St Laurence.
  
  Sir Francis Knollys
  
  Francis Knollys, who entered the service of Henry VIII before 1540, became a Member of Parliament in 1542 and was knighted in 1547 while serving with the English army in Scotland. He became custodian of Wallingford Castle in 1551. A strong and somewhat aggressive supporter of the reformed doctrines, he retired to Germany soon after Mary became queen, returning to England to become a privy councillor, vice-Chamberlain of the royal household and a Member of Parliament under Queen Elizabeth, whose cousin Catherine Carey (d. 1568), daughter of William Carey and niece of Anne Boleyn, was his wife. After serving as governor of Plymouth, Knollys was sent in 1566 to Ireland, his mission being to obtain for the queen confidential reports about the conduct of the lord-deputy Sir Henry Sidney.
  
  Approving of Sidney's actions, he came back to England, and in 1568 was sent to Carlisle to take charge of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had just fled from Scotland; afterwards he was in charge of the queen at Bolton Castle and then at Tutbury Castle. He discussed religious questions with his prisoner, although the extreme Protestant views which he put before her did not meet with Elizabeth's approval, and he gave up the position of guardian just after his wife's death in January 1569. In 1584 he introduced into the House of Commons, where since 1572 he had represented Oxfordshire, the bill legalizing the national association for Elizabeth's defence, and he was treasurer of the royal household from 1572 until his death on 19 July 1596.
  
  His monument may still be seen in the church of Rotherfield Greys. Knollys was repeatedly free and frank in his objections to Elizabeth's tortuous foreign policy; but, possibly owing to his relationship to the queen, he did not lose her favor and he was one of her commissioners on such important occasions as the trials of Mary Queen of Scots, of Philip Howard, earl of Arundel, and of Anthony Babington. An active and lifelong Puritan, his attacks on the bishops were not lacking in vigour and he was also very hostile to heretics. He received many grants of land from the queen, and was chief steward of the city of Oxford and a Knight of the Garter.
  
  It would seem that his son, in earlier years a pirate and soldier, is Elizabeth's Vice-Chamberlain, Sir Francis Knollys the Younger, who may be associated with The Lord Chamberlain's Men - Shakespeare's company - through Carey family connections to Sir Francis the Elder. In either case, Franklin's or Francolin's - an anagram of Francis Knollys - substitutes for Chamberlain's as a pun in the company's title.
  
  Children of Sir Francis Knollys the Elder
  
  Sir Francis's eldest son Henry (died 1583), and his sons Edward (died 1580), Robert (died 1625), Richard (died 1596), Francis (died 1643), and Thomas, were all courtiers and served the queen in parliament or in the field. Richard's family continued to live at Rotherfield Greys, while Francis Junior's descendants held Battle Manor in Reading. The latter's daughter, Lettice (died 1666), was the second wife of the parliamentarian, John Hampden. Francis Senior's daughter, Lettice (1540–1634), married Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and then Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. She was the mother of Elizabeth's favorite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
  
  Some of Knollys's letters are in T. Wright's Queen Elizabeth and Her Times (1838) and the Burghley Papers, edited by S. Haynes (1740); and a few of his manuscripts are still in existence. A speech which Knollys delivered in parliament against some claims made by he bishops was printed in 1608 and again in W. Stoughton's Assertion for True and Christian Church Policie (London, 1642).
  
  Sir Francis Knollys's second son William (c. 1547–1632) served as a member of parliament and a soldier during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, being knighted in 1586. His eldest brother Henry, having died without sons in 1583, William inherited his father's estates in Oxfordshire, becoming in 1596 a privy councilor and comptroller of the royal household; in 1602 he was made treasurer of the household. Sir William enjoyed the favour of the new king, James I, whom he had visited in Scotland in 1585, and was made Baron Knollys in 1603 and Viscount Wallingford in 1616. But in this latter year his fortunes suffered a temporary reverse.
  
  Through his second wife Elizabeth Howard (1586–1658), daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, Knollys was related to Frances, Countess of Somerset, and when this lady was tried for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury her relatives were regarded with suspicion; consequently Lord Wallingford resigned the treasurership of the household and two years later the mastership of the Court of Wards, an office which he had held since 1614. However, he regained the royal favor, and was created earl of Banbury in 1626. He died in London on 25 May 1632. Earls of Banbury
  
  The Earl of Banbury's wife, who was nearly forty years her husband's junior, was the mother of two sons, Edward (1627–1645) and Nicholas (1631–1674), whose paternity has given rise to much dispute. Neither is mentioned in the earl's will, but in 1641 the law courts decided that Edward was Earl of Banbury, and when he was killed in June 1645 his brother Nicholas took the title. In the Convention Parliament of 1660 some objection was taken to the earl sitting in the House of Lords, and in 1661 he was not summoned to parliament; he had not succeeded in obtaining his writ of summons when he died on 14 March 1674.
  
  Nicholas's son Charles (1662–1740), the 4th earl, had not been summoned to parliament when in 1692 he killed Captain Philip Lawson in a duel. This raised the question of his rank in a new form. Was he, or was he not, entitled to trial by the peers? The House of Lords declared that he was not a peer and therefore not so entitled, but the Court of King's Bench released him from his imprisonment on the ground that he was the Earl of Banbury and not Charles Knollys, a commoner. Nevertheless, the House of Lords refused to move from its position, and Knollys had not received a writ of summons when he died in April 1740. His son Charles (1703–1771), vicar of Burford, Oxfordshire, and his grandsons, William (1726–1776) and Thomas Woods (1727–1793), were successively titular Earls of Banbury, but they took no steps to prove their title.
  
  However, in 1806, Thomas Woods's son William (1763–1834), who attained the rank of general in the British army, asked for a writ of summons as Earl of Banbury, but in 1813 the House of Lords decided against the claim. Several peers, including the great Lord Erskine, protested against this decision, but General Knollys himself accepted it and ceased to call himself Earl of Banbury. He died in Paris on 20 March 1834. His eldest son, Sir William Thomas Knollys (1797–1883), entered the army and served with the Guards during the Peninsular War. Remaining in the army after the conclusion of the peace of 1815 he won a good reputation and rose high in his profession. From 1855 to 1860 he was in charge of the military camp at Aldershot, then in its infancy, and in 1861 he was made president of the council of military education. From 1862 to 1877 he was comptroller of the household of the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII. From 1877 until his death on 23 June 1883, he was Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod; he was also a privy councillor and colonel of the Scots Guards. Of his children, one son Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys (b. 1837), was private secretary to Edward VII and George V (created Baron Knollys in 1902 and Viscount Knollys in 1911); another son, Sir Henry Knollys (1840-1930), became private secretary to King Edward's daughter Maud, Queen of Norway; and daughter, Charlotte, became the Private Secretary and close friend to the Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra and died unmarried in 1930.
  
  He directed the rebuilding of the Guildhall in 1400 and was a member of the Grocers company in the City of London.and he also rebuilt St. Antholin's Church in Watling Street, where he was buried with his wife Joan. His will, dated 20 May 1435, was proved 11 July 1435 at Lambeth, where it is still preserved.
  Knolleys was a forebear of Robert Knollys (great-great-grandson) and Francis Knollys (Robert's son).
  
  Knollys is said by Dugdale to have been descended from Sir Robert Knollys or Knolles (d 1407), the soldier, but, according to Sidney Lee in the Dictionary of national Biography, this is an error. Discussing Francis knolly's, Lee states: "Sir Francis's pedigree cannot be authentically traced beyond Sir Thomas Knollys ... from whom Sir Francis's father was fifth in descent".
  Less
  Modified
  10 November 2019 by mrmagoo1

• m. ABT 1379

• m. 9 JAN 1385 in London, Middlesex, England

1. Margaret Knollys, b. ABT 1410 in Sussex, England     d. ABT 1444 in England
2. Thomas Knollys, b. 1380 in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England     d. 8 FEB 1445 in London, Middlesex, England
3. Isabell Knollys, b. 1386 in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England     d. 1461 in London, Middlesex, England

1. Title: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Knollys
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Knollys;
   Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Knollys
   
2. Title: Biography of KNOLLES, Thomas (d.1435), of London
   Publication: Name: https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/knolles-thomas-1435#footnote14_o7t8aki;
   Page: This sources provides not only a biography of Thomas but it also includes the resources used.
   
3. Title: Thomas Knollys, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLX-WXVL : 15 June 2022), Thomas Knollys, ; Burial, London, City of London, Greater London, England, St Antholin's Church; citing record ID 100360143, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLX-WXVL;
   
4. Title: UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
   Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=60526&h=66615&indiv=try;
   
5. Title: Birth, Death and Spouse
   Publication: Name: https://gw.geneanet.org/ekfannin?lang=en&p=isabell&n=knollys;
   
6. Title: Vital Information
   Publication: Name: https://gw.geneanet.org/ekfannin?lang=en&p=thomas&n=knollys+lord+mayor+of+london;