NORRIS, Thomas (1653-1700), of Speke Hall, Lancs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. 30 May 1653, 1st s. of Thomas Norris of Speke by Katherine, da. of Sir Henry Garway, Draper, of Broad Street, London, ld. mayor 1639-40; bro. of Edward Norris and Sir William Norris. educ. I. Temple 1669. m. lic. 24 Dec. 1695, Magdalen, da. of Sir Willoughby Aston, 2nd Bt., of Aston, Cheshire, 1da. suc. fa. 1686.1

Offices Held

Dep. lt. Lancs. 1682-7, 1689-d.; alderman, Liverpool 1685-Oct. 1688; commr. for assessment, Lancs. 1689-90, j.p. 1689-d., superstitious uses 1693, sheriff 1696-7.2

Biography

The Norrises settled at Speke, seven miles from Liverpool, in the 13th century and first sat in Parliament in 1324. They were recusants during the 16th and early 17th centuries. Norris’s father, the first head of the house to adopt Protestantism, was a Royalist, and in 1649 a fine of £508 at one-sixth was imposed upon him for his delinquency. He took the Engagement to the Commonwealth in 1650, and in 1651 refrained from helping either the Earl of Derby or the invading Scottish army. His estates, valued at £294 p.a., were discharged in 1652 after payment of the fine.3

Norris stood unsuccessfully for Liverpool in 1685, but he was elected to the Convention for Liverpool and according to Ailesbury’s list voted to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. An inactive Member, his seven committees included those on the bills to prevent undue expense in elections and to secure the Government against Papists and the disaffected. He signed the Association in 1696, and was active against the local Jacobites. He died in June 1700, and was buried at Childwall. His brothers sat for Liverpool in several Parliaments.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Irene Cassidy

Notes

  • 1. Proc. Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Cheshire, ii. 170; Croston, Lancs. v. 58; Chester Mar. Lic. (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. lxxvii) 108.
  • 2. HMC Le Fleming 202; SP29/420/136; SP44/335/509; Wahlstrand thesis, 58; T27/14/16.
  • 3. VCH Lancs. iii. 132-6; Royalist Comp. Pprs. (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. xxxvi) 227; (xcv) 361.
  • 4. Rylands Lib. Legh mss, letter of 9 Mar. 1685; CSP Dom. 1694-5, p. 255; 1696, p. 175; HMC Kenyon, 309.