Biography of Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch -1559
Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was born to William Cawarden Cloth-Fuller.
In 1542 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was elected MP Bletchingley.
In 1542 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch and Elizabeth Unknown were married.
In 1543 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Keeper of Nonsuch Palace [Map] which post he held until Nov 1556.
In 1544 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Master of the Revels and Master of the Tents.
In Sep 1544 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was knigted at Boulogne sur Mer [Map] during the Siege of Boulogne.
In 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey and High Sheriff of Sussex.
In 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was elected MP Bletchingley.
On 07 Apr 1547 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch came into the possession of Bletchingley, Surrey [Map]. Anne of Cleves Queen Consort England (age 31) had formerly owned it.
In 1550 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Keeper of Hampton Court Palace, Richmond [Map].
On 19 Jul 1553 Jane "Nine Days Queen" Grey I Queen England and Ireland (age 17) requested tents from Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch.
Around Nov 1558 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London with Edward Warner (age 47)
Around Nov 1558 Edward Warner (age 47) was re-appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London with Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch.
On 01 Jan 1559 Queen Mary I of England and Ireland ordered her officers to collect arms and armour from Cawarden's house to counter Wyatt's rebellion.
On 25 Aug 1559 Thomas Cawarden of Bletchingly and Nonsuch died at East Horsley, Surrey [Map] or Nonsuch Palace [Map].
Henry Machyn's Diary. 25 Aug 1559. The xx .. day of August ded at Non-shyche [Map] ser Thomas Carden knyght, devyser of all bankettes [banquets] and bankett-howses [banquet-houses], and the master of reyvelles and serjant of the tenttes.
Note. P. 208. Death and funeral of sir Thomas Cawarden. Knighted by Henry VIII. at the siege of Boulogne in 1544, a gentleman of the king's privy chamber in 1546, and in his latter years master of the revels, tents, and pavilions. His altar-tomb remains in Bletchingley church, but without inscription. (Manning and Bray's Surrey, ii. 300.) Among other documents relating to sir Thomas Cawarden and his office, published in the Loseley Manuscripts, edited by A. J. Kempe, esq. F.S.A. 1835, Svo. are (p. 175) his will dated St. Bartholomew's day 1559, and (p. 179) the charges of his obsequies, amounting to 96l. 15s. 1½d. and the funeral feast to 32l. 16s. 8d. The death of his wife shortly followed, and the charges of her funeral are also stated.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 05 Sep 1559. The v day of September was bered at [Bletchingley] ser Thomas Karden knyght, with a standard and .... of armes and a cot of armes, a helmet, targat, .... with the mantylls and crest, and a iij [3] dosen of skochyons of armes, the wyche he had mony goodly offeses in ....
Before 23 Feb 1560 [his former wife] Elizabeth Unknown died.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 23 Feb 1560. The xxiij day of Feybruary was cared from (Black) frers over the water to Parys garden, and ther was a hors-lytter rede to care her to Blechyng-led, [my] lade Carden, the wyff of ser Thomas Carden, to be bered.