CHEKE, Thomas II (c.1590-c.1636), of Mottistone, I.o.W.; later of Crewkerne, Som.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
Available from Cambridge University Press

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1590, 1st s. of Thomas Cheke I* of Mottistone and 1st w. Dorothy, da. of William Geffrey, merchant, of Newport, I.o.W.1 educ. Brasenose, Oxf. 1610, aged 20.2 m. by 1623, Eleanor, da. of James Bisse of Batcombe, Som., 1s. 1da.3 suc. fa. 1618.4 d. c.1636.5

Offices Held

Freeman, Yarmouth I.o.W. 1614, mayor 1620-1, alderman 1621-2.6

Biography

Described by Sir John Oglander* as ‘a lewd son of a discreet father’ and ‘an idle, cock-witted fellow’, Cheke was elected with his father’s help for Yarmouth in 1614, having failed to impress the corporation of Whitchurch despite a letter of recommendation from the dean of Winchester, for whom his father acted as steward.7 He left no mark on the records of the Addled Parliament, and on his return from Westminster the Yarmouth corporation belatedly admitted him a freeman.8 Four years later he inherited an estate heavily burdened with debt.9 Precluded by his mayoralty from standing at the next election, he sold his estate in 1623, but did not leave the island for another two years.10 He then moved to Somerset and was dead by 1636, when his will was proved at Taunton.11

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Virginia C.D. Moseley

Notes

  • 1. Vis. Hants (Harl. Soc. lxiv), 54.
  • 2. Al. Ox.
  • 3. Vis. Som. (Harl. Soc. xi), 8; F. Grigson, Bisse Fam. 58.
  • 4. C142/367/14.
  • 5. Taunton Wills (Brit. Rec. Soc., Index Lib. xlv), 146.
  • 6. [footnote]
  • 7. Royalist’s Notebk. ed. F. Bamford, 140; Hants RO, 44M69/G2/41.">[footnote]
  • 8. [footnote]
  • 9. Royalist’s Notebk. 140; PROB 11/131, f. 40.">[footnote]
  • 10. Oglander Mems. ed. W.H. Long, 76.">[footnote]
  • 11. Taunton Wills, 146.">[footnote]