Everything about Thomas Egerton 1st Viscount Brackley totally explained
Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley (
1540 –
15 March 1617) was an
English Nobleman,
Judge and
Statesman who served as
Lord Keeper and
Lord Chancellor for twenty-one years.
Early life, education and legal career
Thomas Egerton was born in
1540 in the parish of Doddlestone,
Cheshire. He was the
illegitimate son of Sir Richard Egerton and an unmarried woman named Alice Sparks. He was acknowledged by his father’s family, who paid for his education. He studied Liberal Arts at
Brasenose College,
Oxford, and received a Bachelor’s Degree in
1559. He then studied
law at
Lincoln’s Inn and became a
barrister.
He built a respectable legal practice pleading cases in the Courts of
Queen’s Bench,
Chancery and
Exchequer. After
Queen Elizabeth I saw him plead a case against the crown he was made
Queen’s Counsel. In
1579 he was made a
Master of the Bench of Lincoln’s Inn. On
June 28,
1581 he was appointed
Solicitor General. He married Elizabeth Ravenscroft and fathered two sons and a daughter by her.
Solicitor General, Attorney General and Master of the Rolls
As Solicitor General, Egerton became a frequent legal advocate for the crown, often arguing cases instead of the
Attorney General. He was one of the
prosecutors of
Mary, Queen of Scots in
1586. He was also the prosecutor in the trial of
Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, for
high treason. He was made Attorney General on
June 2,
1592, he was knighted the next year. He was made
Master of the Rolls on
April 10,
1594 where he excelled as an
equity judge and became a patron of the young
Francis Bacon. After the death of the Lord Keeper
Puckering he was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and made a
Privy Councillor on
May 6,
1596, remaining Master of the Rolls and thus the sole judge in the
Court of Chancery. During this time his first wife died, and he married a widow, Elizabeth Walley (née More)
Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor
As Lord Keeper, Egerton’s judgements were admired, but Common-law judges often resented him reversing their decisions. He also attempted to expand the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery to include the imposition of fines to enforce his injunctions. In the 9th Parliament of the reign of Elizabeth (1597-1598) he supported legal reform and the royal power to create
monopolies.
Sir Thomas was a friend of
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and often interceded to mend relations between Essex and the Queen. After Essex returned from
Ireland in disgrace he was placed in the Lord Keeper’s custody. He was one of the judges at Essex’s first trial, and tried to persuade him to apologise and beg mercy from the Queen. He pronounced the sentence against Essex, though it was dictated by the Queen. During Essex’s rebellion, he was sent to persuade Essex to surrender, but was instead held hostage for several hours until one of Essex’s supporters freed him to gain pardon from the Queen.
In 1599 his second wife died, and in 1600 he married Alice Stanley (née Spencer) the widow of the
Earl of Derby.
When
James VI of
Scotland succeeded to the throne of
England as James I he kept Egerton in office, and made him Lord Chancellor and
Baron Ellesmere on
July 19,
1603. He was removed from the office of Master of the Rolls on
May 18,
1603, but as the office was granted to an absentee Scottish Lord he continued to perform its duties. He shortly after presided over the trial of Barons
Cobham and
Grey de Wilton for high treason for their part in the
Main Plot.
In the first Parliament of James I Lord Ellesmere attempted to exercise the right of the Lord Chancellor to disqualify members from sitting in the
House of Commons, but in the end yielded that right to the House itself. He attempted to persuade Parliament to support the King’s plans for a union of England and Scotland, but was unsuccessful. In
1606 he ruled that Scottish subjects born after the succession of James I were naturalised English subjects.
Towards the end of his life, Lord Ellesmere supported the
Royal Prerogative against the arguments made by
Sir Edward Coke, the
Lord Chief Justice, and ultimately aided the King in securing his dismissal. He attempted to resign several times after this, as he became increasingly old and infirm, and the King finally accepted his resignation on
March 5,
1617, after creating him
Viscount Brackley on
November 7,
1616. He was promised the
earldom of Bridgewater, but showed little interest, and died twelve days after leaving office on
March 15,
1617. He is buried in
Dodleston, Cheshire.
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