Family and Education

bap. 16 Oct. 1572,1 1st s. of John Towthby of Towthby, and Dorcas, da. of Edward Ayscough of Nun Cotham, Lincs.2 educ. L. Inn 1592.3 m. (1) Dorothy (bur. 14 Feb. 1610),4 da. of Thomas Sandall, merchant, of King’s Lynn, Norf., 3s. 2da.;5 (2) 21 Feb. 1611,6 Agnes (bur. 3 Sept. 1612),7 da. and h. of William Parker, linen-draper, of London and Overhall, Gilston, Herts., wid. of Humphrey Corbett, Merchant Taylor, of Stoke Newington, Mdx., s.p.;8 (3) Faith (bur. 9 Apr. 1622),9 da. of Thomas Morrison† of Cadeby, Lincs., wid. of Francis Mussendon of Healing, Lincs., s.p.;10 (4) lic. 23 Aug. 1627,11 Elizabeth (bur. 4 Sept. 1632),12 wid. of Henry Parry, bp. of Worcester 1610-16, and Barnaby Gooch*, master of Magdalene, Camb. 1604-26, s.p.;13 (5) 2 Nov. 1635,14 Anne (d.1667), da. and coh. of Richard Hornby of Tothill, Lincs., 1s.15 suc. fa. 1598.16 bur. 10 Sept. 1646.17

Offices Held

J.p. Lincs. (Lindsey) 1604-25, 1626-at least 1640;18 commr. sewers, Gt. Fens 1604, 1629-42, River Gleane, Lincs. and Notts. 1607-27, Lincoln, Lincs. 1608, Newark, Notts. 1610, preservation of ditches, Gt. Fens 1605,19 swans, Lincs., Northants., Rutland, Notts. 1619, Lincs. 1635,20 subsidy, Lincs. (Lindsey) 1621, 1624,21 recusants 1624,22 exacted fees, Lincoln 1634.23

Biography

Towthby could trace the pedigree of his ancestors based at Towthby back to the thirteenth century. His father acquired a substantial estate of some nine manors in Lincolnshire, and Towthby himself improved his position by a series of marriages to rich widows.24 In 1611 he was among those nominated to negotiate the rates of composition for purveyance on behalf of the county.25 Returned for Grimsby in 1614, possibly as a result of his third wife’s connections with the borough, which her father had represented four times, he took no known part in the proceedings of the Addled Parliament, and does not appear to have stood again. In 1617 he was accused in Star Chamber of trespass and perjury by Robert, 14th Lord Willoughby de Eresby, but the case, and another in Chancery, were eventually dismissed.26 For reasons that are unclear, Towthby was briefly dropped from the commission of the peace in 1625. He remained neutral during the Civil War. He died intestate, and was buried at Alford on 10 Sept. 1646; administration of his estate was not granted until 1649.27 No further member of the family entered Parliament.

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. Alford Par. Reg. (Lincoln Rec. Soc. par. reg. v), 7.
• 2. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lii), 1010.
• 3. LI Admiss.
• 4. Alford Par. Reg. 106.
• 5. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lii), 1010.
• 6. Soc. Gen., Stoke Newington par. reg., unfol.
• 7. Alford Par. Reg. 108.
• 8. PROB 11/114, f. 457; Chauncy, Herts. i. 371; VCH Herts. iii. 320.
• 9. Alford Par. Reg. 113.
• 10. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lii), 1010.
• 11. A. Gibbons, Vis. Lincs. Notes, 147-8.
• 12. Alford Par. Reg. 120.
• 13. PROB 11/129, f. 289; PROB 11/149, f. 18.
• 14. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. lii), 1010.
• 15. Ibid.; Gibbons, 148; Alford Par. Reg. 43.
• 16. C142/252/1.
• 17. Alford Par. Reg. 128.
• 18. C66/1620; C231/4, f. 204; C66/2858.
• 19. C181/1, ff. 75, 117v; 181/2, ff. 48v, 76, 120, 353v; 181/3, ff. 169v, 229; 181/4, ff. 40, 155; 181/5, ff. 42v, 223v.
• 20. C181/2, f. 341v; 181/5, f. 14v.
• 21. C212/22/20-1, 23; SP14/123/77.
• 22. HMC Rutland, i. 471.
• 23. C181/4, f. 158v.
• 24. Gibbons, 143-6; Lansd. 168, f. 200; PROB 11/93, f. 294.
• 25. HMC Rutland, i. 430.
• 26. C2/Jas.I/W21/25; STAC 8/84/26.
• 27. Gibbons, 144-8; Lincoln Admons. (Index Lib. lii), 354.