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Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (died 1597) was an English Protestant soldier, politician and Constable of Castle Maine in County Kerry, Ireland.
< Wikitree >
Thomas Spring was born in Suffolk, England, the son of Thomas Spring and Julian Fairey.[1][2][3][4]
He was the first of the Spring family to settle in Ireland.[1][2]
He married Annabelle Browne.[1] The marriage occurred after 1580.[5]
Thomas and Annabelle's children were:
Thomas served as High Sheriff of Kerry, Ireland in 1592.[1]
He died on 22 August 1597.[1][4]
< Wikipedia >, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Spring was born in Lavenham, Suffolk, the son of clothier Thomas Spring. He was the great-grandson of Thomas Spring of Lavenham, the richest merchant in England during the early 1500s.
Spring was an officer in the army of Elizabeth I during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. He served with distinction, and as part of the Plantation of Munster he was granted over 3,000 acres of land in County Kerry in 1578. His land increased to approximately 6,000 acres when, on 12 December 1588, he was granted the estates of Killagha Abbey, which had been seized by The Crown during the dissolution of the monasteries.[3] Spring was instructed to rebuild the abbey in a castle-like manner, so that it could serve as a defensive structure. He also became constable of the castle over the River Maine, with responsibility for maintaining English royal authority over the locality. He was accorded the right to hold several country fairs as a source of income and was in control of collecting tolls and taxes for the Crown. Spring served as High Sheriff of Kerry in 1592.[4] He was the first of the Spring family to settle in Ireland.
Spring married Annabelle Browne, the daughter of John Browne, Master of Awney, Co.Limerick,[7] with whom he had two sons.[8] His eldest son, Thomas, was a practising lawyer. His younger son, Walter, served as High Sheriff of Kerry in 1609. Walter's grandson was Walter Spring, who lost much of the family's Irish estate during the Irish Confederate Wars.
“Regan-Ettinger Family History - Captain Thomas Spring of Castlemaine.” < link >
Spring married Annabelle Browne, the daughter of Sir Anthony Browne, with whom he had two sons. He eldest son, Thomas, was a practising lawyer. His younger son, Walter, served as High Sheriff of Kerry in 1609. Walter's grandson was Walter Spring, who lost much of the family's Irish estate during the Irish Confederate Wars.
His descendants married into the Anglo-Irish Rice family, establishing the Spring-Rice dynasty. This branch of the family was raised to the peerage as Barons Monteagle of Brandon, after the Whig politician Thomas Spring-Rice had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Future generations sat in the House of Lords as Conservatives until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. Sir Cecil Spring-Rice GCMG GCVO (1859–1918) was an important British diplomat, while his cousin, Thomas Aubrey Spring Rice CMG MVO held minor diplomatic office. The sixth baron, Gerald Spring-Rice (b.1926) is a former Irish Guards officer.
Thomas Spring Esquire (died 1440) of Lavenham was granted a coat-of-arms in the first reign of Henry VI, thus elevating his family into the ranks of armigerous society. As the family moved from the merchant class to the minor nobility, the coat-of-arms was employed to convey the newly bestowed rank of the family. As such it is prominently displayed, alongside the arms of the Earl of Oxford, over thirty times on Lavenham church. Examples of the Spring arms, often quartered with other local noble families, can be found across Suffolk. The coat-of-arms is now borne by Thomas Spring's descendants.
Posted 30th August 2015 by Rob Regan
1545 |
1545
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Lavenham, Suffolk, England
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1575 |
1575
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Castle Gregory, Kerry, Munster, Ireland
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1583 |
1583
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co. Limerick, Ireland
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1584 |
1584
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Castlemaine, County Kerry, Ireland
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1585 |
1585
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co. Limerick, Ireland
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1597 |
1597
Age 52
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Castlemaine, Kerry, Ireland
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