THOROLD (THARROLDE), Anthony (by 1520-94), of Marston and Blankney, Lincs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1520, 1st s. of William Thorold of Marston and Hougham by 1st w. Dorothy, da. of Thomas Leke of Halloughton, Notts. educ. G. Inn, adm. 1537. m. (1) Margaret, da. of Henry Sutton of Wellingore, Lincs., 4s. inc. William 2da.; (2) Anne, da. and coh. of Sir John Constable of Kinoulton, Notts., wid. of George Babington, 1da. suc. fa. 20 Nov. 1569. Kntd. 6 May 1585.1

Offices Held

Commr. relief, Lincs. (Kesteven) 1550, subsidy (Holland) 1563, musters, Lincoln 1580; other commissions from 1552; recorder, Grantham by c.1551-?d., Lincoln 1559-70; j.p.q. Lincs. (Kesteven) 1554-d., j.p. (Holland) 1554-84/87 q. by 1564, j.p.q. Notts. 1558/59; Queen’s attorney in the north 1561-70; commr. eccles. causes, dioceses of Lincoln and Peterborough 1571, diocese of Lincoln 1575; sheriff, Lincs. 1571-2, dep. lt. 1587-d.; steward of Edward, 1st Earl of Lincoln in 1582.2

Biography

Of Yorkshire origin, the Thorold family had been settled at Marston, near Grantham, since the 14th century. Anthony Thorold’s father, a merchant of the staple, was sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1558-9 and a leading figure at Grantham. Of Thorold’s own early career nothing is known save that it included the professional training which equipped him for legal office. His first appointment, as recorder of Grantham, he appears to have received soon after 1550. In 1581 he explained to his fellow justices how throughout his time as recorder the borough had delegated its subsidy assessment to certain approved persons, a task which, he added, ‘for almost 30 years past either Mr. Carre [presumably Robert Carr] and I, or my father and I whilst he lived, have from time to time executed’. That the recordership was not more quickly followed by Thorold’s election to Parliament may reflect the competition for seats between townsmen and nominees. When his own turn came in the Parliament of 1558 he could doubtless add to his municipal standing the support of the 2nd Earl of Rutland: it was Rutland who was to procure him a seat for Lincoln in the following Parliament as well as the recordership of the city. In August 1558 he was named an executor by Thomas Grantham, who had just completed his year as mayor of Lincoln.3

Adjudged ‘earnest in religion’ in 1564, Thorold was to remain active in Lincolnshire until his death on 26 June 1594. He rebuilt Marston Hall, where his descendants still live.4

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: T. M. Hofmann

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth estimated from age at fa.’s i.p.m., C142/155/167. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lii), 982-3.
  • 2. CPR, 1553, p. 355; 1553-4, p. 21; 1554-5, p. 109; 1560-3, p. 439; 1563-6, pp. 24, 40; 1569-72, pp. 277-8; 1572-5, pp. 551-2; Lincoln Rec. Soc. liii. 53-54; liv. p. lxxviii; HMC Ancaster, 10; J. W. F. Hill, Tudor and Stuart Lincoln, 69-71; HMC Hatfield, iii. 297; APC, xii. 56; xxv. 25; R. R. Reid, King’s Council in the North, 489; H. G. Wright, Life and Works of Arthur Hall of Grantham, 101.
  • 3. Hill, 69-71; HMC Ancaster, 10; HMC 14th Rep. VIII, 49; PCC 41 Welles.
  • 4. Cam. Misc. ix(3), 26; PCC 80 Dixy; C142/239/113; Country Life, cxxxviii (1965), 612-15; Pevsner and Harris, Lincs. 603-4.