COLE, Thomas (d.1597), of Barnard's Inn, London and Romford, Essex.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

Prob. s. of Thomas Cole (d.1571) of London by Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Hargrave. educ. Camb.; Barnard’s Inn by 1586.

Offices Held

Keeper of ponds at Westminster and Hampton Court; overseer of the poor, Westminster c.1593, commr. sewers, 1596.

Biography

Little is known about Cole who, though a local man, may have owed his seat to Lord Burghley, the high steward. As keeper of ponds he received an Exchequer annuity of £10 5s. Re-elected in 1597, he died before Parliament met. His death must therefore have occurred between the date of his return, 27 Sept., and 24 Oct. In his will, made 28 Apr. and proved 28 Oct., he made a number of charitable bequests. Most of his possessions were left to his laundress, while his sister received 100 marks. The executor was his former Cambridge tutor, Dr. John Day. Cole was buried in St. Margaret’s, Westminster (where he was a churchwarden), 25 Nov. 1597. His epitaph reads:

In Parliament a burgess Cole was placed,

In Westminster the like for many years;

But now with saints above his soul is graced,

And lives a burgess with heaven’s royal peers.

Vis. London (Harl. Soc. xv), 180; Berry, Suss. Gen. 307; Lansd. 47, f. 117; 81, f. 70; 83, f. 217; Cat. Westminster Recs. ed. Smith, 94; PCC 86 Cobham; HMC Hatfield, vii. 519; Memorials St. Margaret’s Westminster Parish Regs. ed. Burke, 469; M. E. C. Walcott, Westminster Memorials, 125, 148.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: W.J.J.

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.