Thomas Gorges (1536, Wraxall, Somersetshire – 30 March 1610, buried in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire), an Elizabethan courtier and Groom of the Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I[1], a second cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I all descendants of the first Howard Duke of Norfolk.
His father was Sir Edward Gorges of Wraxall, and his mother one of Sir Edward's wives, Mary Newton, or Mary Poyntz, sister of Nicholas Poyntz(d.1557).
He was the uncle of Arthur Gorges, the poet and translator.
In 1573 Thomas Gorges acquired the manor of Langford, now Longford, in Wiltshire.
In 1576 he married Helena Snakenborg, the widowed Marchioness of Northampton and Lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, and they built a triangular Swedish pattern castle - Longford Castle - on the banks of the River Avon. The castle had a round tower in each corner, and a park, fruit garden and kitchen garden.
Their children are
1. Elizabeth Gorges (married, firstly, Sir Hugh Smythe of Long Ashton, Somerset[2][3] and then colonial entrepreneur Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 28 Sep 1629, Wraxall, Somerset, England)
2. Francis Gorges
3. Frances Gorges (married Thomas Tyringham, circa 1610, Little Langford, Wiltshire, England)
4. Edward Gorges (1st Baron Gorges of Dundalk)
5. Theobald Gorges
6. Bridget Gorges (married Robert Phelipes)
7. Robert Gorges
Sir Thomas Gorges was governor of Hurst Castle, when, during the Spanish Armada, one of the Spanish ships was driven aground there. Lady Gorges asked the Queen if she could have the wreck, and the request was granted - the ship was one of the Spanish treasure ships laden with silver[1].
He was knighted at Beddington in 1586.
In the reign of James I, Sir Thomas Gorges, and Lady Northampton, his wife, were granted the office of Keeper of the palace of West Sheen or Richmond, keeper of the wardrobe, vessels and provisions there, and keeper of the gardens and of Richmond Park; and Letters of Privy Seal granting her an allowance of £245. 5s. p.a.[2]
Sir Thomas and his wife Helena have a remarkable monument in Salisbury Cathedral.
The Gorges Monument (1635) in Salisbury Cathedral is the tomb of Helena, Marchioness of Northampton and her husband Sir Thomas Gorges. Each side of the elaborate canopy above the tomb displays two cuboctahedra and an icosahedron. The monument as a whole is crowned by a celestial globe with a dodecahedron on top[3].
It features stone polyhedra in Leonardo's style [4].
The Story of a Family through Eleven Centuries, Illustrated by Portraits and Pedigrees: Being a History of the Family of Gorges by Raymond Gorges, Frederick Brown; Merrymount Press, 1944. 293 pgs.
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ThomasGorges.htm
http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/search/search_results.aspx?st=q&queryText=Thomas%20Gorges&aqgQueryText=Thomas%20Gorges&dateFrom=1530&dateTo=1635&queryType=ALL (references to a Thomas Gorges, dated from 1530 to 1635)