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{{Short description|English politician}}
[[Image:1stLordCoventry.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The 1st Lord Coventry.]]
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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[[File:St Mary Magdalene, Croome, Worcs - Monument to 1st Baron Coventry (1578–1640).JPG|thumb|right|200px|Monument to the 1st Lord Coventry in the [[St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot|church]] at [[Croome Court]]]]
{{Infobox officeholder
⚫
'''Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry''' (1578 – 14 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = The Lord Coventry
|honorific-suffix = [[Privy Council of England|PC]]
|image = PORTRAIT OF THOMAS, 1ST BARON COVENTRY (1578-1640), LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL.jpg
|office = [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England]]
|monarch = [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]
|predecessor = [[John Williams (archbishop of York)|John Williams]]
|successor = [[John Finch, 1st Baron Finch|The Lord Finch]]
|term_start = 1625
|term_end = 1640
|birth_date = 1578
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|death_date = 14 January 1640 (aged 61)
⚫
}}


⚫
'''Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry''' (1578{{snd}}14 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.
⚫
==Education and early legal career==
He entered [[Balliol College, Oxford]], in 1592, and the [[Inner Temple]] in 1594, becoming bencher of the society in 1614, reader in 1616, and holding the office of treasurer from 1617 till 1621.


⚫
==Education and early legal career==
His exceptional legal abilities were rewarded early with official promotion. On 16 November 1616 he was made [[Recorder of London]] in spite of [[Francis Bacon]]'s opposition, who, although allowing him to be "a well trained and an honest man," objected that he was "bred by my [[Edward Coke|Lord Coke]] and seasoned in his ways."<ref>[[James Spedding|Spedding]]'s ''Bacon'', vi. 97.</ref> On 14 March 1617 he was appointed [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] and was knighted.
He entered [[Balliol College, Oxford]], in 1592, and the [[Inner Temple]] in 1594, becoming bencher of the society in 1614, reader in 1616, and holding the office of treasurer from 1617 till 1621. His exceptional legal abilities were rewarded early with official promotion. On 16 November 1616 he was made [[Recorder of London]] in spite of [[Francis Bacon]]'s opposition, who, although allowing him to be "a well trained and an honest man", objected that he was "bred by my [[Edward Coke|Lord Coke]] and seasoned in his ways".<ref>[[James Spedding|Spedding]]'s ''Bacon'', vi. 97.</ref> On 14 March 1617 he was appointed [[Solicitor General for England and Wales|Solicitor General]] and was knighted.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=340}}


==Political and judicial career==
==Political and judicial career==
Line 12: Line 25:
[[File:Thomas Coventry.jpg|thumb|left|Thomas Coventry was made [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]] on 1 November 1625.]]
[[File:Thomas Coventry.jpg|thumb|left|Thomas Coventry was made [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]] on 1 November 1625.]]


He was returned for [[Droitwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Droitwich]] to the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] of 1621; and on 11 January in that year was made [[Attorney General of England and Wales|attorney-general]]. He took part in the proceedings against [[Francis Bacon|Bacon]] for corruption, and was manager for the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in the impeachment of [[Edward Floyd]] for insulting the [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine|elector]] and electress palatine.
He was returned for [[Droitwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Droitwich]] to the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] of 1621; and on 11 January in that year was made [[Attorney General of England and Wales|attorney-general]]. He took part in the proceedings against [[Francis Bacon|Bacon]] for corruption, and was manager for the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] in the impeachment of [[Edward Floyd (impeached barrister)|Edward Floyd]] for insulting the [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine|elector]] and electress palatine.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=340}}


On 1 November 1625 he was made [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]]; in this capacity he delivered the [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s reprimand to the Commons on 9 March 1626, when he declared that "liberty of counsel" alone belonged to them and not "liberty of control." On 10 April 1628 he received the title of '''Baron Coventry of Aylesborough''' in [[Worcestershire]]. At the opening of parliament in 1628 he threatened that the king would use his prerogative if further thwarted in the matter of supplies. In the subsequent debates, however, while strongly supporting the king's prerogative against the claims of the parliament to executive power, he favoured a policy of moderation and compromise. He defended the right of [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|the council]] in special circumstances to commit people to prison without showing cause, and to issue [[Writ of assistance|general warrants]]. He disapproved of the king's sudden dissolution of parliament, and agreed to the liberation on [[bail]] of the seven imprisoned members on condition of their giving security for their good behaviour.
On 1 November 1625 he was made [[Lord Keeper of the Great Seal]]; in this capacity, he delivered [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s reprimand to the Commons on 9 March 1626, when he declared that "liberty of counsel" alone belonged to them and not "liberty of control". On 10 April 1628 he received the title of ''Baron Coventry of Aylesborough'' in [[Worcestershire]]. At the opening of parliament in 1628, he threatened that the king would use his prerogative if further thwarted in the matter of supplies. In the subsequent debates, however, while strongly supporting the king's prerogative against the claims of the parliament to executive power, he favoured a policy of moderation and compromise. He defended the right of [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|the council]] in special circumstances to commit people to prison without showing cause, and to issue [[Writ of assistance|general warrants]]. He disapproved of the king's sudden dissolution of parliament, and agreed to the liberation on [[bail]] of the seven imprisoned members on condition of their giving security for their good behaviour.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=340–341}}


He showed less subservience than Bacon to the [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]], and his resistance to the latter's pretensions to the office of [[Lord High Constable of England|Lord High Constable]] greatly incensed the duke. Buckingham taunted Coventry with having gained his place by his favour; Coventry replied, "Did I conceive I had my place by your favour, I would presently unmake myself by returning the seal to his Majesty."<ref>[[John Hacket|Hacket]]'s ''Life of Bishop Williams'', ii. 19.</ref> After this defiance Buckingham's sudden death alone probably prevented Coventry's displacement.
He showed less subservience than Bacon to the [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]], and his resistance to the latter's pretensions to the office of [[Lord High Constable of England|Lord High Constable]] greatly incensed the duke. Buckingham taunted Coventry with having gained his place by his favour; Coventry replied, "Did I conceive I had my place by your favour, I would presently unmake myself by returning the seal to his Majesty".<ref>[[John Hacket|Hacket]]'s ''Life of Bishop Williams'', ii. 19.</ref> After this defiance Buckingham's sudden death alone probably prevented Coventry's displacement.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=341}}


He passed sentence of death on [[Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven|Lord Audley]] in 1631, drafted and enforced the proclamation of 20 June 1632 ordering the country gentlemen to leave London, and in 1634 joined in [[William Laud]]'s attack on the [[Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland|Earl of Portland]] for peculation. The same year, in an address to the judges, he supported the proposed levy of [[ship money]] on the inland as well as the maritime counties on the plea of the necessity of effectually arming, "so that they might not be enforced to fight," "the wooden walls" being in his opinion "the best walls of this kingdom."<ref>[[John Rushworth|Rushworth]] (1680), part ii. vol i. 294.</ref> He voted in Star Chamber to remove the Irish judge [[Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield|Lord Sarsfield]] from office for corruption, censuring him severely for hearing a murder case in private and bullying the jury into returning a guilty verdict.
He passed sentence of death on [[Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven|Lord Audley]] in 1631, drafted and enforced the proclamation of 20 June 1632 ordering the country gentlemen to leave London, and in 1634 joined in [[William Laud]]'s attack on the [[Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland|Earl of Portland]] for peculation. The same year, in an address to the judges, he supported the proposed levy of [[ship money]] on the inland as well as the maritime counties on the plea of the necessity of effectually arming, "so that they might not be enforced to fight", "the wooden walls" being in his opinion "the best walls of this kingdom".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=341}}<ref>[[John Rushworth|Rushworth]] (1680), part ii. vol i. 294.</ref> He voted in Star Chamber in 1633 to remove the Irish judge [[Dominick Sarsfield, 1st Viscount Sarsfield|Lord Sarsfield]] from office for corruption, censuring him severely for hearing a murder case in private and for bullying the jury into returning a guilty verdict.<ref>Crawford, Jon G. ''A Star Chamber Court in Ireland - the Court of Castle Chamber 1571-1641'' Four Courts Press Dublin 2005</ref>


In the [[Star Chamber]] Coventry was one of [[John Lilburne]]'s judges in 1637, but he generally showed conspicuous moderation, inclining to leniency in the cases of [[Richard Harvey Chambers|Richard Chambers]] in 1629 for seditious speeches, and of [[Henry Sherfield]] in 1632 for breaking painted glass in a church. He prevented also the hanging of men for resistance to [[impressment]], and pointed out its illegality, since the men were not subject to [[martial law]]. While contributing thirty horse to the Scottish expedition in 1638, and lending the king £10,000 in 1639, he gave no support to the forced loan levied upon the city in the latter year.
In the [[Star Chamber]] Coventry was one of [[John Lilburne]]'s judges in 1637, but he generally showed conspicuous moderation, inclining to leniency in the cases of [[Richard Chambers (merchant)|Richard Chambers]] in 1629 for seditious speeches, and of [[Henry Sherfield]] in 1632 for breaking painted glass in a church. He prevented also the hanging of men for resistance to [[impressment]], and pointed out its illegality, since the men were not subject to [[martial law]]. While contributing thirty horse to the Scottish expedition in 1638, and lending the king £10,000 in 1639, he gave no support to the forced loan levied upon the city in the latter year.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=341}}


==Summary==
==Summary==
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[[File:Effigy of Thomas, 1st Lord Coventry - geograph.org.uk - 962825.jpg|upright|thumb|Thomas Coventry (effigy pictured) was remembered by [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Edward Hyde]] as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved".]]
[[File:Effigy of Thomas, 1st Lord Coventry - geograph.org.uk - 962825.jpg|upright|thumb|Thomas Coventry (effigy pictured) was remembered by [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Edward Hyde]] as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved".]]


Lord Coventry held the great seal for nearly fifteen years (1625–40), and was enabled to collect a large fortune. He was an able judge, and he issued some important orders in chancery, probably alluded to by Wood, who ascribes to him a tract on "The Fees of all law Officers".<ref>[[Anthony Wood]], ''Athenae Oxonienses'' ii. 650.</ref> [[Bulstrode Whitelocke]] accuses him of mediocrity, but his contemporaries in general have united in extolling his judicial ability, his quick despatch of business and his sound and sterling character. [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Clarendon]] in particular praises his statesmanship, and compares his capacity with [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Lord Strafford]]'s, adding, however, that he seldom spoke in the council except on legal business and had little influence in political affairs; to the latter circumstance he owed his exceptional popularity. He describes him as having "in the plain way of speaking and delivery a strange power of making himself believed," as a man of "not only firm gravity but a severity and even some morosity," as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved."
Lord Coventry held the great seal for nearly fifteen years (1625–40), and was enabled to collect a large fortune. He was an able judge, and he issued some important orders in chancery, probably alluded to by Wood, who ascribes to him a tract on "The Fees of all law Officers".<ref>[[Anthony Wood (antiquary)|Anthony Wood]], ''Athenae Oxonienses'' ii. 650.</ref> [[Bulstrode Whitelocke]] accuses him of mediocrity, but his contemporaries in general have united in extolling his judicial ability, his quick despatch of business and his sound and sterling character. [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Clarendon]] in particular praises his statesmanship, and compares his capacity with [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Lord Strafford]]'s, adding, however, that he seldom spoke in the council except on legal business and had little influence in political affairs; to the latter circumstance, he owed his exceptional popularity. He describes him as having "in the plain way of speaking and delivery a strange power of making himself believed", as a man of "not only firm gravity but a severity and even some morosity", as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=341}}


==Family==
==Family==
⚫
[[File:St Mary Magdalene, Croome, Worcs - Monument to 1st Baron Coventry (1578–1640).JPG|thumb|right|200px|Monument to the 1st Lord Coventry in the [[St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome D'Abitot|church]] at [[Croome Court]]]]
Lord Coventry was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Coventry, judge of the common pleas (a descendant of John Coventry, [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor of the City of London]] in the reign of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]), and of Margaret Jeffreys of Earls Croome, or [[Croome D'Abitot]], in [[Worcestershire]].
Lord Coventry was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Coventry, judge of the common pleas (a descendant of John Coventry, [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor of the City of London]] in the reign of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]), and of Margaret Jeffreys of Earls Croome, or [[Croome D'Abitot]], in [[Worcestershire]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=340}}


He married:
He married:


1. Sarah, (sister of Sir Edward Sebright of Besford in Worcestershire, and daughter of John Sebright by Anne Bullingham),<ref name=CP>{{cite book | last = Cokayne | first = George | title = The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant | publisher = A. Sutton | location = Gloucester | year = 1982 | isbn = 0-904387-82-8 |volume = III|page = 476}}</ref> by whom besides a daughter he had one son,
1. Sarah, (sister of [[Sebright baronets|Sir Edward Sebright]] of Besford in Worcestershire, and daughter of John Sebright by Anne Bullingham),<ref name=CP>{{cite book | last = Cokayne | first = George | title = The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant | publisher = A. Sutton | location = Gloucester | year = 1982 | isbn = 0-904387-82-8 |volume = III|page = 476}}</ref> by whom besides a daughter he had one son,
:*[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|Thomas]], who succeeded him as 2nd baron, and
:*[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|Thomas]], who succeeded him as 2nd baron, and
2. Elizabeth, daughter of John Aldersley of Spurstow, Cheshire, and widow of William Pitchford, by whom he had four more sons and four more daughters:
2. Elizabeth, daughter of John Aldersley of Spurstow, Cheshire, and widow of William Pitchford, by whom he had four more sons and four more daughters:
:*[[John Coventry (Royalist)|John]], father of [[John Coventry (died 1682)|Sir John Coventry]]
:*[[John Coventry (Royalist)|John]], father of [[John Coventry (died 1682)|Sir John Coventry]]
:*Francis,
:*Francis,
:*[[Henry Coventry|Henry]], Secretary of State (1672-1680) and
:*[[Henry Coventry|Henry]], Secretary of State (1672–1680) and
:*[[William Coventry|Sir William Coventry]], the statesman;
:*[[William Coventry|Sir William Coventry]], the statesman;
:*Anne married [[Sir William Savile, 3rd Baronet|Sir William Savile, 3rd baronet]] (1629) and then [[Thomas Chicheley]] of [[Wimpole Hall|Wimpole]] (1645)
:*Anne married [[Sir William Savile, 3rd Baronet|Sir William Savile, 3rd baronet]] (1629) and then [[Thomas Chicheley]] of [[Wimpole Hall|Wimpole]] (1645)
Line 45: Line 59:
:*Dorothy married [[Sir John Pakington, 2nd Baronet]].<ref>''Burke's Peerage'' (1939 edition).</ref>
:*Dorothy married [[Sir John Pakington, 2nd Baronet]].<ref>''Burke's Peerage'' (1939 edition).</ref>


Thomas Coventry, 5th baron (d. 1699), was created an earl in 1697 with a special limitation, on failure of his own male issue, to that of Walter, youngest brother of the lord keeper, from whom the present earl of Coventry is descended.
Thomas Coventry, 5th baron (died 1699), was created [[Earl of Coventry]] in 1697 with a special limitation, on the failure of his own male issue, to that of Walter, youngest brother of the lord keeper, from whom the [[George Coventry, 13th Earl of Coventry|present earl of Coventry]] is descended.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=341}}


==References==
==References==
{{Commons category|Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
'''Attribution'''

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* {{EB1911|wstitle=Coventry, Thomas Coventry |volume=7 |pages=340-341 }}
{{Commons category}}
<!-- 30 May 2014: EB1911 is essentially the only source. If you add additional material, consider including inline references to identify the EB1911 material. -->

=== Bibliography ===

⚫
* {{EB1911|title=Coventry, Thomas Coventry |volume=7 |pages=340-341 |url=https://archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabrit07chisrich#page/340/mode/2up}}



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{{s-ttl|title= [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[Droitwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Droitwich]] |years=1621-1624 with <br><small>[[John Wilde (jurist)|John Wilde]] </small>}}
{{s-ttl|title= [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[Droitwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Droitwich]] |years=1621–1624 with <br/><small>[[John Wilde (jurist)|John Wilde]] </small>}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baronet|Walter Blount]]<br>[[John Wilde (jurist)|John Wilde]] }}
{{s-aft|after= [[Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baronet|Walter Blount]]<br/>[[John Wilde (jurist)|John Wilde]] }}
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{{s-ttl|title= [[Solicitor General for England and Wales]] |years=1617–1621 }}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord Chancellor|Lord Keeper]]|years=1625&ndash;1640}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Finch, 1st Baron Finch|The Lord Finch]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire]]|years=1624 &ndash; 1628}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire]]|years=1624&ndash;1628}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|The Lord Coventry]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|The Lord Coventry]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire]]|years=1638 &ndash; 1640}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire]]|years=1638&ndash;1640}}
{{s-vac}}
{{s-vac}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{s-new|reason=New creation}}
{{s-new|reason=New creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Coventry]]|years=1628 &ndash; 1640}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Coventry]]|years=1628&ndash;1640}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|Thomas Coventry]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Coventry, 2nd Baron Coventry|Thomas Coventry]]}}
{{end}}
{{s-end}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2012}}


{{House of Stuart Lord Chancellors}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}
{{Persondata

| name = Coventry, Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron
| alternative names =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = English politician
| date of birth = 1578
| place of birth =
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| date of death = 14 January 1640
| place of death =
⚫
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1578 births]]
[[Category:1578 births]]
[[Category:1640 deaths]]
[[Category:1640 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century English people]]
[[Category:16th-century English lawyers]]
[[Category:17th-century English people]]
[[Category:17th-century English judges]]
[[Category:17th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:Attorneys General for England and Wales]]
[[Category:Attorneys General for England and Wales]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of England]]
[[Category:Barons Coventry|1]]
[[Category:Droitwich Spa]]
[[Category:Peers of England created by Charles I]]
[[Category:English MPs 1621–22]]
[[Category:English MPs 1621–1622]]
[[Category:Lord Chancellors of England]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of England]]
[[Category:People from Droitwich Spa]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Droitwich]]
[[Category:People of the Tudor period]]
[[Category:People of the Stuart period]]
[[Category:Recorders of London]]
[[Category:Recorders of London]]
[[Category:16th-century English politicians]]

Revision as of 00:53, 28 July 2023

The Right Honourable
The Lord Coventry
PC
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England
In office
1625–1640
MonarchCharles I
Preceded byJohn Williams
Succeeded byThe Lord Finch
Personal details
Born1578
Died14 January 1640 (aged 61)

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (1578 – 14 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.

He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1592, and the Inner Temple in 1594, becoming bencher of the society in 1614, reader in 1616, and holding the office of treasurer from 1617 till 1621. His exceptional legal abilities were rewarded early with official promotion. On 16 November 1616 he was made Recorder of London in spite of Francis Bacon's opposition, who, although allowing him to be "a well trained and an honest man", objected that he was "bred by my Lord Coke and seasoned in his ways".[1] On 14 March 1617 he was appointed Solicitor General and was knighted.[2]

Political and judicial career

Thomas Coventry was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal on 1 November 1625.

He was returned for Droitwich to the Parliament of 1621; and on 11 January in that year was made attorney-general. He took part in the proceedings against Bacon for corruption, and was manager for the House of Commons in the impeachment of Edward Floyd for insulting the elector and electress palatine.[2]

On 1 November 1625 he was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal; in this capacity, he delivered Charles I's reprimand to the Commons on 9 March 1626, when he declared that "liberty of counsel" alone belonged to them and not "liberty of control". On 10 April 1628 he received the title of Baron Coventry of Aylesborough in Worcestershire. At the opening of parliament in 1628, he threatened that the king would use his prerogative if further thwarted in the matter of supplies. In the subsequent debates, however, while strongly supporting the king's prerogative against the claims of the parliament to executive power, he favoured a policy of moderation and compromise. He defended the right of the council in special circumstances to commit people to prison without showing cause, and to issue general warrants. He disapproved of the king's sudden dissolution of parliament, and agreed to the liberation on bail of the seven imprisoned members on condition of their giving security for their good behaviour.[3]

He showed less subservience than Bacon to the Duke of Buckingham, and his resistance to the latter's pretensions to the office of Lord High Constable greatly incensed the duke. Buckingham taunted Coventry with having gained his place by his favour; Coventry replied, "Did I conceive I had my place by your favour, I would presently unmake myself by returning the seal to his Majesty".[4] After this defiance Buckingham's sudden death alone probably prevented Coventry's displacement.[5]

He passed sentence of death on Lord Audley in 1631, drafted and enforced the proclamation of 20 June 1632 ordering the country gentlemen to leave London, and in 1634 joined in William Laud's attack on the Earl of Portland for peculation. The same year, in an address to the judges, he supported the proposed levy of ship money on the inland as well as the maritime counties on the plea of the necessity of effectually arming, "so that they might not be enforced to fight", "the wooden walls" being in his opinion "the best walls of this kingdom".[5][6] He voted in Star Chamber in 1633 to remove the Irish judge Lord Sarsfield from office for corruption, censuring him severely for hearing a murder case in private and for bullying the jury into returning a guilty verdict.[7]

In the Star Chamber Coventry was one of John Lilburne's judges in 1637, but he generally showed conspicuous moderation, inclining to leniency in the cases of Richard Chambers in 1629 for seditious speeches, and of Henry Sherfield in 1632 for breaking painted glass in a church. He prevented also the hanging of men for resistance to impressment, and pointed out its illegality, since the men were not subject to martial law. While contributing thirty horse to the Scottish expedition in 1638, and lending the king £10,000 in 1639, he gave no support to the forced loan levied upon the city in the latter year.[5]

Summary

Thomas Coventry (effigy pictured) was remembered by Edward Hyde as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved".

Lord Coventry held the great seal for nearly fifteen years (1625–40), and was enabled to collect a large fortune. He was an able judge, and he issued some important orders in chancery, probably alluded to by Wood, who ascribes to him a tract on "The Fees of all law Officers".[8] Bulstrode Whitelocke accuses him of mediocrity, but his contemporaries in general have united in extolling his judicial ability, his quick despatch of business and his sound and sterling character. Clarendon in particular praises his statesmanship, and compares his capacity with Lord Strafford's, adding, however, that he seldom spoke in the council except on legal business and had little influence in political affairs; to the latter circumstance, he owed his exceptional popularity. He describes him as having "in the plain way of speaking and delivery a strange power of making himself believed", as a man of "not only firm gravity but a severity and even some morosity", as "rather exceedingly liked than passionately loved".[5]

Family

Monument to the 1st Lord Coventry in the church at Croome Court

Lord Coventry was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Coventry, judge of the common pleas (a descendant of John Coventry, Lord Mayor of the City of London in the reign of Henry VI), and of Margaret Jeffreys of Earls Croome, or Croome D'Abitot, in Worcestershire.[2]

He married:

1. Sarah, (sister of Sir Edward Sebright of Besford in Worcestershire, and daughter of John Sebright by Anne Bullingham),[9] by whom besides a daughter he had one son,

  • Thomas, who succeeded him as 2nd baron, and

2. Elizabeth, daughter of John Aldersley of Spurstow, Cheshire, and widow of William Pitchford, by whom he had four more sons and four more daughters:

Thomas Coventry, 5th baron (died 1699), was created Earl of Coventry in 1697 with a special limitation, on the failure of his own male issue, to that of Walter, youngest brother of the lord keeper, from whom the present earl of Coventry is descended.[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry.
  1. ^ Spedding's Bacon, vi. 97.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 340.
  3. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 340–341.
  4. ^ Hacket's Life of Bishop Williams, ii. 19.
  5. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911, p. 341.
  6. ^ Rushworth (1680), part ii. vol i. 294.
  7. ^ Crawford, Jon G. A Star Chamber Court in Ireland - the Court of Castle Chamber 1571-1641 Four Courts Press Dublin 2005
  8. ^ Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses ii. 650.
  9. ^ Cokayne, George (1982). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. III. Gloucester: A. Sutton. p. 476. ISBN 0-904387-82-8.
  10. ^ Burke's Peerage (1939 edition).

Attribution

Parliament of England
Preceded by MP for Droitwich
1621–1624 with
John Wilde 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Solicitor General for England and Wales
1617–1621 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General for England and Wales
1621–1625 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Keeper
1625–1640 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire
1624–1628 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Gloucestershire
1638–1640 		Vacant
Peerage of England
New title
New creation
 Baron Coventry
1628–1640 		Succeeded by
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