VINCENT, Thomas (1544-1613), of Stoke d'Abernon, Surr.

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

Constituency

Dates

1584

Family and Education

b. 1544, 1st s. of David Vincent, keeper of standing wardrobe at Hampton Court, of Barnack, Northants. by Elizabeth, da. of one Spencer of Berks.; bro. of Henry. m. Jane, o. da. and h. of Thomas Lyfield of Stoke d’Abernon by Frances, da. of Edmund, 1st Lord Bray and coh. of her bro. John, 2nd Lord Bray, 2s. suc. fa. 1565. Kntd. ?1601.

Offices Held

Commr. musters, Surr. 1580, j.p. from c. 1582; dep. lt. 1601.1

Biography

Vincent’s father’s lands in Northamptonshire lay close to the Cecil estates at Burghley, and he appointed Sir William Cecil an overseer of his will, along with his ‘Special good lord the Earl of Bedford’. Vincent himself remained closely enough associated with the 2nd Earl of Bedford to carry a bannerol at his funeral, and it can be assumed that it was Bedford who brought him into Parliament for Poole. Vincent made a fortunate marriage, and had settled in Surrey by 1582, but he did not obtain possession of Stoke d’Abernon until his father-in-law’s death in 1596.

The Queen visited him there in 1601 and may have knighted him on that occasion, for he describes himself as a knight in the will he made on 23 Sept. 1613, though his name does not appear in the standard works of reference. The will was prefaced by a ‘profession of faith and steadfast belief’ in

one holy Catholic church, that is to say universal, which is the company and fellowship of saints or faithful people out of which there is no salvation.

He bequeathed 40s. to the poor of each of the four Surrey parishes of Fetcham, Great Bookham, Kingston-upon-Thames and Stoke d’Abernon, and 20s.to the poor of Leatherhead. Four preachers of God’s word were left 40s.each. He left bequests to his wife Jane, and to his son Sir Francis, whom he made joint executor with his brother Henry. Vincent died 14 Dec. 1613, and the will was proved on 14 Mar. of the following year. He was buried at Stoke d’Abernon, where a monument was erected to him.2

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: A. M. Mimardière

Notes

  • 1. C142/142/131; GEC Baronetage, i. 158; Vis. Surr. (Harl. Soc. xliii), 56; PCC 20 Lawe; CPR, 1563-6, pp. 217-18; SP12/145, f. 34; Lansd. 35, f. 135v; APC, xii. 14; xxxi. 400.
  • 2. Roberts thesis; PCC 29 Crymes, 20 Lawe; VCH Surr. iii. 286-7, 290, 458, 461, 463, 518; Nichols, Progresses Jas. I, i. 209; Collinson thesis, 1195, n. 4.