MALLETT, Thomas (1546-80), of Enmore and Currypool, Som.

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

b. 31 May 1546, 1st s. of Richard Mallett of Currypool by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Andrew Luttrell of Dunster Castle. educ. I. Temple 1560. m. by June 1566, Elizabeth, da. of Humphrey Colles, half-sis. of John Colles, Mallett’s co-Member for Minehead, at least 2s. 2da. suc. fa. 1551.1

Offices Held

J.p. Som. by Sept. 1574,2 sheriff 1576-7.

Biography

A ward of the lord chamberlain, Sir Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, Mallett inherited large estates in Somerset, with property at Dewdon and South Molton in Devon, Wraxhall in Wiltshire, and Shirehampton and elsewhere in Gloucestershire. At the 1569 Somerset musters he was heavily assessed for the provision of armour, and in addition supplied three horses, two from Currypool park, where he was keeper. His return to the 1571 Parliament was no doubt due to his mother’s relatives the Luttrells, who owned Dunster Castle near Minehead, and were patrons of the borough.3

Mallett’s name occurs in only a few scattered references before his premature death. In November 1578 the Privy Council ordered him to help his step-father Sir George Speake to settle a dispute involving a local attorney, Richard Cornish, and he was one of the three justices who in the following summer were asked to prevent the Taunton clothiers from disobeying the law by exploiting weavers and tuckers.4

Mallett died either 15 or 16 Oct. 1580. The will he made on his deathbed was proved 1 Feb. following. He left £1,000, plate and cattle, to his wife; 1,000 marks to each of his two daughters at their marriages or 18th birthdays; and £500, as well as lands in Gloucestershire and Somerset, to his younger son George. The heir, John, who was only about seven years old, was named as sole executor, with Sir George Speake, ‘my brother John Colles’ and two others as overseers. For some reason the taking of the inquisition post mortem was delayed for six years.5

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: N. M. Fuidge

Notes

  • 1. Wards 7/6/3, 27, 55; Vis. Som. ed. Weaver, 43, 45-6; PCC 4 Darcy, 24 Holney.
  • 2. Som. Rec. Soc. li. 83.
  • 3. CPR, 1550-3, p. 312; Wards 7/6/3, 27, 55; Som. Rec. Soc. xx. 248, 252.
  • 4. APC, x. 406; xi. 126.
  • 5. PCC 4 Darcy; C142/210/114, 214/233. The two inquisitions post mortem differ as to whether he died on 15 or 16 Oct. The will was drawn up on the first of these dates.