Sir Thomas Adams

• BIRTH 6 Dec 1586 Wem, Shropshire Unitary Authority, Shropshire, England
• DEATH 24 Feb 1668 (aged 81) London, City of London, Greater London, England
• BURIAL St. Mary and St. Margaret Churchyard, Sprowston, Broadland District, Norfolk, England
• MEMORIAL ID 84452527 Photos by Jackie

Lord Mayor of London and 1st Baronet Adams.

Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet, son of Thomas Adams And Margaret Erpe, was born in Wem, Shropshire and was christened on 6 December 1586. He married Anne Mapsted, daughter of Humphrey Mapsted, before 1616. Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586 – 24 February 1667/1668) was the Lord Mayor of the City of London and a Member of Parliament for the City of London from 1654–1655 and 1656-1658.

He was a draper in London and was said to be one of the twenty wealthiest men in London. In 1640 he was elected sheriff, giving up his business, and then served as Master of the Draper's Company. He sat as an alderman on the City of London Corporation, serving as alderman of Portsoken, Billigsgate, and Cornhill wards until being discharged by Parliament as a suspected Royalist. He died on 24 February 1667/68 at Ironmonger Land, Fenchurch Street, London, England.1 He was buried at Sprowston Hall, Norfolk, England.2 His will was probated in April 1668.2

He was president of St. Thomas' Hospital, which he saved from ruin, was Treasurer of War to the "New Model" army in 1645 and was trustee for the sale of the Bishop's lands until his discharge by Parliament in 1647. Between 1642 and 1645 he served as Colonel of the Blue Regiment of the London Trained Bands and in 1645 he was elected as Lord Mayor of London. In 1645 he purchased Sprowston Hall in Norfolk from the Corbet family. His loyalty to Charles I caused him to be imprisoned briefly in the Tower of London in 1647. He even remitted a loan to the exiled king in the amount of 10,000 pounds.

In 1660, Sir Thomas was sent with General Monck to the Netherlands to accompany the king home. He was knighted at the Hague for his royal service, and on 13 June 1661 he was awarded the title of 1st Baronet. Sir Thomas gave his house at Wem as a free-school in 1650, which is now Thomas Adams School. He also endowed a lectureship at Cambridge University as the first Professorship of Arabic to propagate the Christian faith in the Arab world. Thomas Adams died 24 February 1667/68 at his house at Ironmonger Lane in London. He was afflicted with kidney stones which hastened his death when he fell while exiting his carriage.

After his death, a stone weighing 25 ounces was removed from his body and is now on display in a laboratory at Cambridge. A large formal funeral was held at St. Katherine Cree Church, Aldgate, London, and he was buried with his wife in a burial vault excavated under the altar of the St. Mary and St. Margaret Church, in Sprowston. The Adams arms were described in 1771 and 1852 as Ermine three cats, in pale, azure. The crest was described as on a wreath, a wolf's head, erased, ermine.

Biographical Summary

Sir Thomas Adams, Knt., Alderman [and sometime (1645-46) Lord Mayor] of London, s. of Thomas Adams, of Wemm, Salop, by Margaret, da. of John Erpe, of Shrewsbury, was b. about 1586 ; was Citizen and Draper of London, of which Company he was sometime Master ; was Alderman of Portsoken ward, 1639-41 ; of Billingsgate, 1641-46 ; of Comhill, 16 Sep. 1646, till "discharged" by Parl. as a suspected Royalist, 7 April 1647, but restored 4 Sep. 1660; was Sheriff, 1639-40; President of St. Thomas' Hospital, 1643-49, and again, 1660-68 ; was Treasurer of War to the "New Model," 1645 ; trustee for. the sale of the Bishops' lands, 5 Oct. 1646, till discharged by Pari. 5 March 1646/7 ; was Lord Mayor, 1645-46; was one of five Aldermen who, in 1647, were committed to the Tower as Royalists, and disabled in 1649 ; was M.P. for London, 1654-55 and 1656-58.

He purchased Sprowston Hall, in Norfolk, and other estates there ; was a great sufferer in the Royal cause, and is said to have remitted as much as £10,000 to Charles II. when in exile ; was deputed by the City to meet that King at Breda, where he was Knighted in May 1660, and shortly afterwards was, at the age of about 74, cr. a Baronet, 13 June 1660. He founded a Grammar School at Wemm, and endowed a lectureship at Cambridge with £40 a year. He m., in or before 1616, Anne, da. of Humphrey Mapsted, of Trenton, Essex. She d. 16 Jan. 1641/2, and was bur. at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, London. He d of the stone (being at that time the "Father of the City"), 24 Feb 1667/8, aged 81, at his house in Ironmonger lane, Fenchurch street. His body after lying in state in St. Katherine-Cree Church, was bur. at Sprowston M.I. Burial registered at Allhallows', Staining. Funeral Certificate at College of Arms. Will pr. April 1668. [8]

Parents
Thomas Adams 1559–1607
Margaret Erpe Adams 1560 – unknown

Spouse
Anne Mapted Adams 1592–1642

Children
Margaret Adams Claggett 1616–1689
Thomas Adams 1618–1668
Joseph Adams 1623–1624
Anne Adams 1628–1706
William Adams 1634–1687

References

[1] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84452527/thomas-adams

[2] http://www.nscda.org/site3/ancestor_profiles.php

Sources

[3] http://books.google.com/books?id=ySwUAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA29&ots=SE7H5tcB... The English Baronetage:: Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account] of All the English Baronets, Their Descents, Marriages, and Issues; Memorable Actions, Both in War, and Peace ...Tho. Wotton, at the Three Daggers and Queen's-Head, against St. Dunstan's-Church, in Fleet-Street., 1741 - Baronetage - 121 pages. Page 29

[4] http://www.thepeerage.com/e136.htm Dictionary of National Biography] Contributor: N. P. [Nicholas Pocock] 1885

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Thomas_Adams,_1st_Baronet

[6] http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-57871.html

[7] http://www.thepeerage.com/p12125.htm

[8] http://archive.org/stream/cu31924092524390#page/n55/mode/2up Complete baronetage]; Cokayne, George E. (George Edward); 1903; Vol. III; page 37-38

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