Baynham Throckmorton, MP, 2nd Baronet

b. June 1606, 1st s. of Sir William Throckmorton, 1st Bt. of Tortworth, Glos. by Cicely, da. and coh. of Thomas Baynham of Clearwell. educ. I. Temple 1623. m. c.1626, Margaret (d.1635) da. of Robert Hopton of Witham Friary, Som. and coh. to her bro. Sir Ralph Hopton†, 1st Baron Hopton of Stratton, 5s. suc. fa. 18 July 1628.1

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. by 1634-45, July 1660-d.; chief forester, Forest of Dean by 1634-45; sheriff, Glos. 1642-3, commr. of array 1642, oyer and terminer, Oxford circuit July 1660, assessment, Glos. Aug. 1660-d., loyal and indigent officers 1662.2

Lt.-col. of horse (royalist) 1642-5.3

Biography Throckmorton was descended from a branch of the ancient West Midlands family which had established itself in Gloucestershire early in the 15th century, first representing the county in Armada year. Throckmorton obtained a crown lease in the Forest of Dean in 1635 with three partners, and took an active part in the iron industry. In 1637, however, he conveyed all his estate to trustees for payment of his debts. A Royalist in the Civil War, he surrendered at Gloucester in December 1645 on a pass procured by Sir Anthony Irby. His fine, on lands which he valued at £625 p.a., was fixed at £1,000, but on his failure to pay they were sold by the Treason Trustees to a certain Thomas Gookin. This was probably a collusive purchase to free Throckmorton from his creditors’ pressure. He was ordered to be taken into custody during Booth’s rising, but released On £2,000 bail.4

Throckmorton stood for the county with some reluctance in 1661, fearing the expense of a contested election. Although his return was not confirmed until 19 Apr. 1662, he was listed as a friend by Lord Wharton and took a very active part in the Cavalier Parliament from the first, being appointed to 134 committees, including those for the corporations and uniformity bills and the bill of pains and penalties. He was teller in four divisions and four times carried messages for the Commons. Although presumably a court supporter, his applications for timber and ironworks in the Forest of Dean do not seem to have been successful. He acted as teller for a proviso to the militia bill on 17 July 1661, and eight days later was instructed to attend Lord Treasurer Southampton with an order on the Forest of Dean. On 30 July he was sent to the Lords to desire a conference on the bill for London and Westminster highways, and after the autumn recess he was among those Members appointed to consider the bill for the execution of those under attainder, and to inquire when the King would receive a petition for disarming the disbanded soldiers of the Cromwellian army. On 13 Feb. 1662 he was again employed as a messenger to the lord treasurer from the Commons about the Forest of Dean. His committee work in the second and third sessions suggests that he was a strong Anglican. He was among those appointed to bring in a bill against the growth of Popery and to provide remedies against the meetings of nonconformists. He was also included in the committee to consider the petition from the loyal and indigent officers. But his remaining tellerships were all concerned with private bills. He was teller for the second reading of the Lords bill to Settle an annuity of £300 on the Earl of Portland and for recommending the bishop of Winchester to renew a lease to a sitting tenant. In the third session, he was teller for the bill to settle certain marshlands in Hampshire on Lady Wandesford. He was also appointed to the committee on the bill against seditious conventicles. He died on 28 May 1664, and was buried at St. Margaret’s, Westminster.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690 Author: John. P. Ferris Notes 1. Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 163-4. 2. C. R. Hart, Royal Forest, 133, 279; W. H. Black, Docquets of Letters Patent, 12. 3. E. Warburton, Mems. Prince Rupert, ii. 69. 4. Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. vii. 194; Hart, 117; SP23/195, ff. 538-50; CSP Dom. 1659-60, pp. 75. 150. 5. HMC 5th Rep. 345; CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 430; CJ, viii. 317, 475, 520, 541.

Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 2nd Baronet (1606– 28 May 1664), of Clearwell, Gloucestershire, supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War and was a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire from 1661 until his death on 28 May 1664.

Throckmorton was born about 1606 to Sir William Throckmorton, 1st Baronet (died 1628) and Cicely Baynham, daughter of Thomas Baynham (died 1611) of Clearwell, Gloucestershire by Mary Winter, daughter of Sir William Winter of Lydney.[2]

Throckmorton received an education in law at the Inner Temple which he left in 1623.[3] On the death of his father on 18 July 1628, he succeeded to the Throckmorton Baronetcy, aged 22.[2]

Throckmorton was a Justice of the Peace in Gloucestershire from 1634 to 1645. He served as Chief Forester in the Forest of Dean from 1634 to 1645.[4] This last office he held probably as a result of the location of his manor of Clearwell within the forest, which manor had previously been held by his maternal ancestor Sir Thomas Baynham (died 1500) who had been constable of St Briavel's Castle, the official residence of the forester. In 1635 with three partners he took took an active part in the iron industry in the Forest of Dean after acquiring a lease in the forest from the Crown. However the venture did not prosper and two years later he was obliged to place his estates in the hands of trustees to settle his debts.[5]

From 1642 to 1643 Throckmorton was Sheriff of Gloucestershire and at the start of the Civil War was appointed a Commissioner of Array for King Charles I.[6] He was an active Cavalier between 1642 and 1645, holding the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of Horse in the cavalry. He was captured by parliamentary forces and surrendered at Gloucester in December 1645.[7] His lands were sequestrated by Parliament because they found him to be a royalist delinquent. He did not pay the fine imposed on him by the Parliamentary Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, with the result that his estate was sold to Thomas Gookin. However it is likely that this was a collusive purchase to circumvent the Parliamentary fine.[8]

In 1659 like many former active Cavaliers Throckmorton was held in preventative custody as a precaution against a Royalist and Presbyterian revolt. Parliamentary forces were successful in preventing a country-wide uprising and only the county of Cheshire partook in Booth's rebellion led by Sir George Booth. Sir Baynham was released on £2,000 bail.[8]

In July 1660, following the Restoration, Throckmorton was appointed an oyer and terminer on the Oxford circuit. He won a seat as one of the two MP's for Gloucestershire in the Cavalier Parliament, although his election was not confirmed until 19 April 1662, due to his having been listed as a friend by Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, who was now highly distrusted by the ruling party having been a Parliamentarian during the Civil War, a Puritan and a favourite of Oliver Cromwell. Throckmorton was active from the start and was appointed to 134 committees.[5]

Throckmorton died on 28 May 1664 and was buried the next day at St Margaret's, Westminster.[9] He had probably intended to be buried with his wife in The Gaunts, Bristol, but as Barker speculated "the fates disposed otherwise".[10] A monumental inscription in his memory exists in the parish church of Newland, Forest of Dean, in which parish is situated Clearwell.[11] He was succeeded by his son and heir Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet.

Throckmorton married Margaret Hopton, daughter of Robert Hopton, of Witham, Somerset by Jane Kembyssister, daughter of Rowland Kembyssister in about 1626. She was a co-heiress of her brother Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton of Stratton.[13] By her he had a son Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Baronet(c.1628-c.1681). She died in childbirth[14] aged 25 on 18 August 1635, which circumstance is possibly alluded to in the holding by her effigy of an infant dressed in swaddling clothes. Some sources suggest Throckmorton was married three times.[15]

On the death in 1635 of his wife Margaret Hopton aged 25, Throckmorton erected a very costly monument in a variety of coloured marbles to her memory in The Gaunt's Chapel, Bristol. The Gaunt's was a charitable foundation established in 1220 by Maurice de Gaunt (died 1230), who was a member of the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle. The Berkeleys maintained close links with the foundation even after Dissolution of the Monasteries(16th.c.) and it appears that the Throckmorton monument was placed here on account of Sir Baynham's descent from his grandmother Elizabeth Berkleley, wife of Sir Thomas Throckmorton, the daughter of Sir Richard Berkeley (died 1604) of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire, whose monument is also in The Gaunt's Chapel. The monument is unusual in that it features the still living Sir Baynham, who would survive a further 29 years. He is shown in front of his wife, reclining and dressed in armour with long flowing hair. Over his shoulders he wears a wide lace collar, with knee-plates and wide-toed boots. His wife reclines behind him, half-raised and leaning on her right elbow, looking out towards the viewer. She is richly dressed and with one hand grasps that of her husband whilst with the other she holds their infant son, who is according to Barker "quaintly dressed".[16] ...

Sources

• Henning, B.D.(Ed.), History of Parliament: The House of Commons, 1660-1690, Vol. 3, Members M-Y, London, 1983 (Biography by "J.P.F.")
• Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1906). Complete Baronetage 1707–1800. 5. Exeter: William Pollard and Co. p. 65.
• Barker, W.R., "St. Mark's or The Mayor's Chapel, Bristol", Bristol, 1892, pp. 181–183
• Roper, I.M., Effigies of Bristol. Published in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol.26, 1903, Throckmorton, pp.278-281

References

• 1.^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.792
• 2.^ a b Cokayne & 1906 p,65.
• 3.^ J.P.F Cites Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 163-4.
• 4.^ J.P.F Cites C. R. Hart, Royal Forest , 133, 279; W. H. Black, Docquets of Letters Patent , 12
• 5.^ a b J.P.F.
• 6.^ J.P.F Cites C. R. Hart, Royal Forest , 133, 279; W. H. Black, Docquets of Letters Patent , 12.
• 7.^ J.P.F Cites E. Warburton, Mems. Prince Rupert , ii. 69.
• 8.^ a b (J.P.F) Cites Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. vii. 194; Hart, 117; SP23/195, ff. 538-50; CSP Dom. 1659-60, pp. 75. 150.
• 9.^ Funeral certificate at College of Arms (Cokayne 1906, p. 65);
• 10.^ Barker, 1892, p.183
• 11.^ Barker, W.R., On the Later Monuments in the Mayor's Chapel. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol.15, 1890-91, p.83
• 12.^ TBGAS, Vol.26, p.279
• 13.^ Cokayne 1906, p. 65.
• 14.^ TBGAS, Vol.26,p.281
• 15.^ Sir Robert Atkyns, Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire, London, 1712, p.452, quoted by TBGAS, Vol.26,p.281, note 1
• 16.^ Barker, 1892, p.181
• From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Baynham_Throckmorton,_2nd_Baronet
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• 'Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 2nd Bt.1
• 'M, #284132, b. circa 1606, d. 28 May 1664
• Last Edited=21 May 2008
• ' Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 2nd Bt. was born circa 1606.1 He was the son of Sir William Throckmorton, 1st Bt. and Cicely Baynham.1 He married Margaret Hopton, daughter of Robert Hopton and Jane Kemeys, circa 1626.1 He died on 28 May 1664.1 He was buried on 29 July 1664 at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, England.1
• ' He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baronet Throckmorton, of Tortworth, co. Gloucester [E., 1611] on 18 July 1628.1
• 'Child of Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 2nd Bt. and Margaret Hopton
• 1.Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 3rd Bt.1 b. c 1628, d. fr Jul 1680 - Feb 1681/82 Citations
• 1.[S15] George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume I, page 65. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage.
• From: http://www.thepeerage.com/p28414.htm#i284132
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