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DISNEY, Thomas (c.1510-68), of Carlton-le-Moorland, Lincs.
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Biography Detail
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Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
b. c.1510, 1st s. of John Disney of Carlton-le-Moorland by Elizabeth, da. of one Walcott. m. Katherine, da. of Augustine Porter of Belton, 4s. 1da. suc. fa. 1557.
Offices Held
Gent. waiter in service of 1st Earl of Rutland 1537; gent. usher 1539; esquire extraordinary of the body to Queen Mary by 1555.
Biography
The Disneys were of Norman descent, the Gallic version of their name being de Iseney. They had long provided Lincolnshire with sheriffs and knights of the shire and they attached their name to their chief seat, Norton, now called Norton Disney. Another branch of the family were lords of Swinderby. The church at Norton contains five monuments to members of this family, notably to William Disney, sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1556, and his son Richard Disney. Thomas came of a younger branch; William was his uncle and Richard his first cousin.
Disney served Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary, and played a part in helping to suppress Wyatt’s rebellion in 1554. In February 1555 he was granted an Exchequer annuity of £14. His uncle William was treasurer of the household of Thomas, 1st Earl of Rutland, whose servant Disney became, and whom he accompanied to London for the Parliament of 1542. When the Earl died in September 1543 Disney received 6s.11d. for riding ‘to Lincoln for a suit of vestments to be occupied at the day of the interment’. Disney remained in the service of Henry, 2nd Earl of Rutland, who became president of the council in the north in 1561, and presumably nominated Disney at Boroughbridge in 1563.
In his will, dated 13 Apr. 1568, Disney left a life interest in his farm at Carlton to the widow, provided that she remained unmarried until their eldest son Edward came of age. She also received £200. The second son John received £100; another son Thomas £200 at the age of 24; and the daughter Jane £200 for her marriage. Disney died 17 Apr. 1568 and was buried at Carlton.
Maddison, Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. l), 304; CPR, 1554-5, p. 53; Maddison, Lincs. Wills, i. p. xxviii; J. Wake, Hist. Collingham, 77-8; HMC Rutland, i. iv, passim; PCC 5 Sheffelde.
