Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, Earl of Dorset[1]
"Author of the first Tragedy in the English language."
Thomas Sackville collaborated with Thomas Norton on Ferrex and Porrex, later known as Gorboduc, published in 1561,"The first dramatic piece of any consideration in the English language."[2]
Thomas Sackville, born in 1536 at Buckhurst in Withyham parish, Sussex,[3] England, was a descendant of Herbrand from Sauqueville, Normandy, who came with William Duke of Normandy to invade England and then stayed after the Conquest.[2] His family resided at Buckhurst in Withyham parish from the time of Henry II.[3]
Thomas was the son and heir of Sir Richard Sackville, knight, and his wife, Winifrid Brydges.[3] Sir Richard was the son of Sir John Sackville and Margaret Boleyn, the daughter of Sir William Boleyn, and great-aunt of Queen Elizabeth I.[3] Winifrede was the daughter of Sir John Bruges or Brydges, of London, Lord Mayor in 1520, and related to the Barons Chandos,[4] and his wife, Agnes Ayloffe.[5]
Thomas had siblings:
At 15 or 16, Thomas entered Hart Hall, Oxford,[6] then gained a Master of Arts from Cambridge, and later was admitted to the Inner Temple.[7]
In 1555, aged 19, Thomas married Cicely Baker, the daughter of Sir John Baker, Kt PC, of Sissinghurst, Kent.[8]
Thomas and Cecily had children:
In 1557-8, Thomas Sackville, Esq, elected both a Knight for the County of Westmorland and a Burgess for the Borough of Estgrenestede (East Grinstead) in County Sussex, chose to sit in Parliament for Westmorland. Then in 1558-9, Thomas was elected for East Grinstead.[8] Thomas was elected to Parliament in 1563 as the member for Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.[11]
Sometime during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Thomas accepted the office of Grand Master of the Freemasons. He resigned from this office in 1567.[12]
His father died on 21 April 1566 when 29 year old Thomas was in Rome and he returned to his inheritance in England.[12] Winifred, Thomas' mother then married John Paulet, later the second Marquis of Winchester. In June 1586, Winifred, Marchioness of Winchester, was buried in Westminster Abbey in the Chapel of St Nicholas.[5]
Thomas was knighted by the Duke of Norfolk and raised to the dignity of a Baron of the realm, Lord Buckhurst, Baron of Buckhurst in the county of Sussex, on 8 June 1567.[12] On 24 April, 1588, Thomas was elected one of the Knights Companions of the most noble Order of the Garter.[13] On 13 March 1604, Thomas was created Earl of Dorset.[14]
As well as Buckhurst, Thomas had a country house in Surrey, called Horseley, and Queen Elizabeth I granted him Knole[14] in Kent. He employed two hundred and twenty workmen daily.[15]
Thomas made his will in August 1607 and died on 19 April 1608, while sitting at the Council Table in Whitehall.[16] His funeral was held in Westminster Abbey, with his chaplain, Dr Abbot, later Archbishop of Canterbury, preaching the sermon. According to his wishes, he was buried beneath the Sackville Chapel in the parish church of Withyham, Sussex, with his ancestors.[16]
The inscription on his leaden coffin read
"Here lieth ye body of Thomas Sacv Baron
of Buckhur Earle of Dorset Knight of the
Garter Chancellor Of Ox Lord High Treasr
of Engla a Prive Counsilor to Que Elisa an
afterwards to King James who died ye 18
April 1608."[17]
The Sackvilles, originally from Sauqueville in Normandy, acquired Buckhurst in the parish of Withyham in East Sussex in the twelfth century, and first produced a knight of the shire in 1361.
Robert Sackville’s father, ennobled in 1567, became lord treasurer in 1599, and was for many years the most powerful magnate in Sussex, although from the turn of the century his principal residence was at Knole in Kent.[18]
See also:
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S > Sackville > Thomas Sackville KG PC
Categories: Knights Companion of the Garter, Elizabeth I creation | Members of Parliament, England 1558 | Members of Parliament, Westmorland | Lord High Treasurers of England and Great Britain | Withyham, Sussex | Hart Hall, Oxford | University of Cambridge | Inner Temple | Sussex Burgesses for East Grinstead | Buckinghamshire Burgesses for Aylesbury | Barons Buckhurst | Earls of Dorset | Knole House, Sevenoaks, Kent | Lord Stewards | Browne 1, Visitations of Sussex, 1530 and 1633-4 | Fynes 1, Visitations of Sussex, 1530 and 1633-4 | English Playwrights | English Authors | English Poets
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