Thomas Waite Esq (1615 - 1688)

Born 1615 in Wymondham, Leicestershire, England

Husband of Jane (Reynes) Waite — married 23 Mar 1638 in Stanford on Soar, Nottinghamshire, England,

Descendants

Died Oct 1688 at about age 73 in Mont Orgueil Castle, Bailiwick of Jersey

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Biography

One of the regicides of Charles 1, he died in prison on the Isle of Jersey in 1688.

Family

Thomas Waite was born to a minor gentry family who held the manor of Wymondham, Leicestershsire. His father was Henry. ^[1]

Thomas was baptised on September 1615. ^[2] "Thomas Waite, son of Henry W., of Wymondham, Co. Leicester, gent" was admitted to Gray's Inn on 5 March 1633/4. ^[3]

His father died probably in 1638, having written his Will in May of that year and naming Thomas as the primary heir. ^[4] In it, he mentioned property at Market Overton, Rutland, granted for life to his wife, which would come to his son Thomas.

On 23 March 1637/8, Thomas (Wayte) of Market Overton Rutland was licenced to marry Jane Raines of Stanford, daughter of Robert Raynes. ^{[5] [6]} The marriage took place on 27 March at Stanford Upon Soar, Nottinghamshire. ^[7]

The 1614 Visitation of Rutland ^[8] names five children of Thomas and Jane: Thomas, John, Robert, Dorothy, and Jane. However, the births of all these have not been identified with total confidence. The baptisms of a number of children were recorded in the parish register of Market Overton, Rutland:

Dorothy - 23 September 1640 [3] ; m. Richard Darley

Raines (1) - 13 December 1642 [4] ; died young

Nicholas - 9 January 1651/2 [5] Named in Will of Jane Waite

Raines (2) - 29 October 1653 [6] ; named in 1689 Will of Jane Waite

Henry - 13 October 1655 [7] ; named in Will of Jane Waite

Roger - 23 June 1659 [8]; named in Will of Jane Waite

A Thomas Waite, son of Thomas Waite, was baptised on 5 July 1646 at St Olave, Bermondsey,Southwark, Surrey. ^[9] A John Waite, son of Thomas Waite, was baptised on 3 May 1649 at Crawley, Hampshire. ^[10] A Jane, daughter of Thomas "Wiate" and Jane his wife was baptised in 1643 at Exton, Hampshire. ^[11]

Civil War and Aftermath

Thomas Waite played a minor role in the war against King Charles I. In 1641, he was named Sheriff of Rutland, and as such, led a delegation of gentry of the county to present a petition of grievances to the king. ^[12] In 1643, he was a captain under Lord Grey of Goby, in which the fighting was primarily restricted to the vicinity of Leicestershire. In November, he was named military governor of Burleigh House as colonel of a garrison regiment there. ^[13] He also defeated a Royalist force at Sproxton Heath. He never joined the New Model Army. In July 1646, he was elected recruiter MP of Rutland to fill a vacancy in the Long Parliament. ^{[14] [15]}

In 1648, following the surrender of the king, Royalist insurrections broke out against Parliament, and Waite commanded a force against Royalists led by one of the king's chaplains, Michael Hudson who had escaped from the Tower of London to a stronghold at Woodcroft House. Waite, despite having offered quarter, later refused it, and Hudson was brutally slaughtered. ^[16] Waite reported his victory to Parliament, which extended its approbation for his actions. ^[17]

At the end of 1648, when commanders of the New Model Army, among them Lord Grey, were planning the trial and execution of the king, Waite disapproved, but his name was added to the list of judges, regardless. At Waite's trial for the regicide, he claimed that he had not attended any sessions of the trial of the king, except that he was tricked into attending when the death warrant was to be signed.^[18] However, Nalson ^[19] lists him as attending on the January 25, 26 and 27 - the day on which the sentence of death was passed on the king. He admitted to his signature on the death warrant.

Because he had surrendered himself at the restoration of the monarchy, Waite was not executed but sent to life imprisonment. He was incarcerated on the Island of Jersey at Mont Orgeuil Castle, and Elizabeth Castle, along with a number of other regicides. ^[20] Several times, his wife Jane petitioned for his release, due to the hardship of supporting him in prison along with their children, but in vain. ^{[21] [15]} He was probably the last of them there, as he was buried at the church of St Savior, Jersey, on 18 October 1688. ^[22]

His wife Jane died in 1689 on Jersey, where her Will was dated 28 September. ^[23] In it, she named surviving children and grandchildren to receive bequests. These included:

Grandson Charles Waite, son of son Thomas Waite, deceased

Granddaughter Jane Darley, daughter of daughter Dorothy (perhaps deceased)

Son of son Nicholas (Henry?)

Son of son Raines

Sons Raines, Roger, Nicholas, Henry (?)

Sons in law Richard Darley (Dorothy) and ? Yorke (Jane)

Sources

1. ↑ The testimony of Royalist Mark Noble [Lives of the English Regicides, vol. 2, p. 310. London, Stockdale,1798.] that he was son of an alehouse keeper should be discounted as both hearsay and prejudiced.
2. ↑ Parish Registers of Wymondham FindMyPast
3. ↑ Foster, Joseph, ed. The register of admissions to Gray's inn, 1521-1889, p. 204, Folio 909. London: Hansard, 1889. p. 204
4. ↑ Leicestershire Record Office PR/I/249 FindMyPast
5. ↑ Name also spelled Reynes and Renes
6. ↑ Vol. l. Nottinghamshire marriage licences. Archdeacons Court ,p. 164. Ancestry UK
7. ↑ Ancestry Index Ancestry UK
8. ↑ Pedigree of Reynes of Stanford in Visitation of Nottinghamshire 1569/1614 p. 108
9. ↑ Parish Register of St Olave, Southwark, Bermondsey 1639-1665 Ancestry UK
10. ↑ Parish Register, Crawley 1649-1812 Ancestry UK
11. ↑ Parish Register of Exton 1579-1720 Ancestry UK
12. ↑ The Victoria History of the County of Rutland p. 186. Victoria
13. ↑ BCW Project: Colonel Thomas Waite's Regiment of Horse. [1]
14. ↑ BCW Project: Biography of Thomas Waite [2]
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 58/ Waite, Thomas by Charles Harding Firth DNB
16. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 28/ Hudson, Michael by Augustus Charles Bickley Hudson
17. ↑ "House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 9 June 1648." Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648-1649. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1767-1830. 315-316. British History Online. Web. 20 August 2023. Approbation
18. ↑ Lives of the English Regicides, vol. 2, p. 310. London, Stockdale. 1798.
19. ↑ Nalson, John. A true copy of the journal of the High Court of Justice, etc. The trial of Charles the First, King of England, before the High Court of Justice, for high-treason ... 1740. Nalson
20. ↑ Cressy, David. England's Islands in a Sea of Troubles. pp. 269 & 271. Oxford University Press, 2020.
21. ↑ "Charles II - volume 142: Undated 1665." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1665-6. Ed. Mary Anne Everett Green. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1864. 136-168. British History Online. Web. 21 August 2023. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/domestic/chas2/1665-6/pp136-168 #234]
22. ↑ Parish Register St Saviour 1684 - 1699 Ancestry UK
23. ↑ "Testament of Jane Waite widow of Thomas of St Saviour." D/Y/A/3/38