Thomas Leigh (Lord Mayor)
| Sir Thomas Leigh | |
|---|---|
| Lord Mayor of London | |
| In office 1558–1559 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Curtes |
| Succeeded by | Sir William Huett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1509 Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | November 17, 1571 London, England |
| Resting place | Mercer's Chapal London, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Barker |
| Occupation | Merchant |
Sir Thomas Leigh (c. 1509 – November 17, 1571[1]) was Lord Mayor of London in 1558.
Life
He has been wrongly credited to be the ancestor that links Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as cousins. The actual common ancestor is Sir Thomas Leighton, the governor of Guernsey. He was an Elizabethan soldier and diplomat.
Thomas was born about 1509 in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England to Roger and Anne Leigh. He was the great-great grandson of Sir Piers Legh II, who was wounded at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Thomas was raised by Sir Roland Hill, a wool merchant in London. Thomas later joined Roland's business, and around 1537, he married Roland's niece and heir, Alice Barker,[1] daughter of John Barker and Elizabeth Hill. Thomas also served as Sheriff of London[2] in 1555[3] and in 1558 as Lord Mayor of London.[4]
In 1558, after the death of Mary I of England, Thomas led the procession leading up to the coronation of Elizabeth I of England.[5] In 1559, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.[6]
In 1561, Thomas Leigh and Roland Hill purchased Stoneleigh Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and a house was built on the site of the monastical buildings. Some of Leigh's descendants lived in the estate from 1561 to 1990.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Burke, Sir John Bernard; Burke, John (1844), A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England, Ireland and Scotland, J. R. Smith, p. 307
- ↑ Burke, John (1831), A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. England, Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, p. 310
- ↑ Stow, John; Thomas, William John; Morley, Henry (1876), A survey of London written in the year 1598, Chatto & Windus, p. 195
- ↑
Welch, Charles (1892). "Leigh, Thomas (1504?-1571)". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co. - ↑ Spencer, Richard Henry (1914), Thomas Family of Talbot County, Maryland, and Allied Families, Williams & Wilkins Co., p. 65
- ↑ Hutton, William Holden; New, Edmund Hort (1914), Highways and Byways in Shakespeare's Country, Macmillan, p. 387
| Civic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Curtes |
Lord Mayor of the City of London 1558–1559 |
Succeeded by Sir William Huett |