Sir Thomas Salusbury, 2nd Baronet

Sir Thomas Salusbury, second baronet (March 1612 – 1643) was a Welsh politician and poet, who fought for Charles I during the English Civil War.

Life

Salusbury was born in March 1612, the eldest son of Sir Henry Salusbury of Lleweni, the first of the Salusbury Baronets. After spending some time at Jesus College, Oxford without taking a degree, he entered the Inner Temple in November 1631 but left in July 1632 on the death of his father to take control of the family estate at Lleweni Hall, Denbighshire. He was a member of the commission of the peace for Flintshire and Denbighshire, Wales and was elected to the common council of the Denbigh corporation in 1632. He was regarded as a noted poet, but only The History of Joseph was published when he was alive (in 1636), although there are manuscripts of other poems and dramatic works. He was MP for Denbighshire in the Short Parliament of 1640, but said little; his relative Sir Thomas Myddleton succeeded him in the Long Parliament. During the English Civil War he was on the side of Charles I, becoming colonel of a royalist regiment in north Wales. His efforts on behalf of the king led to the House of Commons calling him a traitor. He fought at the Battle of Edgehill and was awarded an honorary DCL Oxford degree by the king a few days later. He fell ill at Worcester and died, being buried in the family vault at Whitchurch on 13 July 1643. He was survived by wife, Hester, and by his son and heir, Thomas.[1]

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