Thomas Lucy (died 1640)

Sir Thomas Lucy (1583/86 – 8 December 1640) of Charlecote Park, Warwickshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1640.

Sir Thomas Lucy III (1585–1640), MP by William Larkin
Charlecote Park in 2015

Early life

Lucy was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park and his wife Constance Kingsmill, the daughter of Sir Richard Kingsmill of High Clere, Hampshire.[1]

His grandfather Sir Thomas Lucy was an MP and is noted for prosecuting William Shakespeare although there is little evidence to support this claim.

Career

In 1614, Lucy was elected Member of Parliament for Warwickshire. He held the seat through several elections until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament. In April 1640, he was re-elected MP for Warwickshire in the Short Parliament. In November 1640 he was elected MP for Warwick in the Long Parliament but died in December.[2]

Tomb of Sir Thomas Lucy and Alice, his wife, in St. Leonard's church, Charlecote.

Lucy died after falling from his horse and was buried at St Leonard's Church, Charlecote.[3] It was said of him that "his tables were ever open to the learned and his gates never fast to the poor".[1]

Family life

Lucy married Alice Spencer, daughter of Thomas Spencer of Claverden, Warwickshire.[1] Alice was described as an archetypal gentlewoman, known for her charity and piety. They had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, including

References
  1. John Burke A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 3
  2. Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.
  3. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 34. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 706. ISBN 0-19-861384-9.Article by Richard Cust.
  4. Richard Cust, ‘Lucy, Alice, Lady Lucy (c.1594–1648)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 25 Nov 2015
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