RIVETT, Thomas (d.1610), of Rattlesden, Suff.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1597

Family and Education

1st s. of James Rivett by Dorothy, da. of Sir John Sone or Soame of Wantisden. educ. I. Temple 1572. m. Katherine, da. of William Cotton of Panfield, Essex, 3s. 1da. suc. fa. 1587.

Offices Held

J.p. Suff. from c.1579.

Biography

Rivett possibly owed his seat at Orford to his relationship with the Sone or Soame family, who intermarried with the Wingfields and provided other Members for Orford and Dunwich in Elizabethan Parliaments. Roger, Lord North, an influential magnate in Suffolk, who was friendly with the Cambridgeshire branch of the Rivett family, may have asked a local patron for a nomination; North’s son and heir John had represented Orford in the previous Parliament. The Rivetts were also on good terms with Edward Coke, recorder of Orford. As one of the Orford burgesses in 1597 Rivett could have sat on the committee considering draining the fens, 3 Dec.

Almost all the information about him is concerned with land. He died in London, and was buried at St. George’s, Southwark. A writ for a by-election at Aldeburgh was issued on 24 Apr. 1610.

Vis. Suff. ed. Metcalfe, 162, 205; HMC Hatfield, ii. 523; CP; D’Ewes, 567; W. A. Copinger, Suff. Manors, i. 219; ii. 359; iii. 232; iv. 224; vi. 148, 319.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: N. M. Fuidge

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.