John Thynne

Sir John Thynne
Portrait of Thynne in 1566
Born	c. 1515 Church Stretton, Shropshire
Died	21 May 1580 Longleat, Wiltshire
Resting place	Longbridge Deverill
Nationality	English
Other names	John Boteville
Occupation	Steward
Employer	Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Spouse(s)	(1) Christiana Gresham, daughter of Sir Richard Gresham, Lord Mayor of London (2) Dorothy Wroughton, daughter of Sir William Wroughton, of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire
Children	John, Dorothy, Anne, Francis, Thomas, Elizabeth, Catherine, Frances, Maria, Egremont, Henry, Charles, Edward, and William
Parent(s)	Thomas Thynne (alias Botteville) and Margaret Eynns, daughter of Thomas Eynns

Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to

Thynne's family also used the surname Boteville (or Botfield), so he was often called Thynne alias Boteville.[1]

Thynne was born in

The first record of Thynne is in 1535, when he was in the service of Lord Vaux of Harrowden.^[1] In a surviving account book kept by Lord Vaux's steward, he is listed among forty-six people 'ordinary of Household' who attended Lord Vaux's family at Harrowden, Northamptonshire, between 2 August and 28 October 1535.^[2]

Between March and November 1538, Thynne, described as Lord Hertford's servant, brought an action in the Court of Chancery concerning the parsonage of Wilby, Northamptonshire, claiming he had wrongly been excluded from it by Lord Vaux.^[2]

In 1536, Thynne became steward to

Thynne became member of parliament for Marlborough in 1545 (and perhaps also in 1539 and 1542), and for Salisbury in 1547.^[1] A historian of Marlborough, James Waylen, states that Thynne was twice member for Marlborough before 1545.^[2] This is supported by a bond for £33 from the Corporation of Marlborough which Thynne was holding in March 1544, roughly equal to his parliamentary wages of two shillings a day for the three sessions of the Parliament of 1539 and the first two sessions of the one of 1542. He was also sheriff of Somerset and Dorset for 1548–1549.^[2]

In 1549, he made a rich match in marrying Christian, a daughter of Sir Richard Gresham.^[1][2]

The Duke of Somerset fell from power in 1549, and Thynne was twice imprisoned in the Tower of London.^[1] Somerset was arrested at Windsor on 11 October 1549, and on 13 October Thynne was sent to the Tower with William Grey, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Michael Stanhope and Edward Wolf, these being described as the Duke's "principal instruments and counsellors... in the affairs of his ill government".^[2] In August 1550, he was pardoned and all his goods and offices were restored, but he was put into the Tower again on 16 October 1551. After Somerset's execution, like his other followers who were spared, Thynne lost his offices and much of his land,^[2] and he was heavily fined.^[1] He retired to Longleat and led a country life there.

Thynne responded to Queen Mary's orders of 19 July 1553, by proclaiming her queen at Warminster, where he was high steward, but under her reign he continued to live in Wiltshire.^[2]

When

When he died in 1580, Thynne left manors in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Oxfordshire, and property in the cities of London, Westminster, and Bristol.^[4] He was entombed in the parish church at Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire.^[1] At his funeral, gowns were given to sixty poor men, mourning suits to sixty-one servants, and cloaks to a great many gentlemen; the funeral expenses came to £380, 8s & 3d.^[5]

Building of Longleat

Thynne supervised Seymour's planned great house on a hill called Bedwyn Brail at

At Longleat, Thynne took thirty-seven years to design and build his own great neo-classical house with four facades,

• Firstly, in 1549, to Christiana Gresham, a daughter of
  marriage settlement was signed in January 1549. By Christiana Gresham he had three sons and six daughters, including:^[2]
  • King James I on 11 May 1603, four days after James arrived to take up the English crown. He married Joan Hayward, a daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward, twice Lord Mayor of London by his wife Joan Tyllsworth, daughter and heiress of Sir William Tyllsworth. Joan Hayward brought the Thynne family new estates in Shropshire and elsewhere.^[7]
  • Dorothy Thynne (buried 25 September 1592), wife of Sir John Strangways (c.1548-1593) of
    Sheriff of Dorset.^[8] Their third son and eventual heir was Sir John Strangways
    (1585-1666), MP.
  • Anne Thynne, wife of John Cole;
  • Francis Thynne, who married Alice Knocker;
  • Thomas Thynne, who married Emily Bembridge;
  • Elizabeth Thynne, wife of John Chamberlayne;
  • Catherine Thynne, who married firstly
    Walter Long
    (1565-1610) and secondly Hugh Fox;
  • Frances Thynne;[7]
  • Maria Thynne.^[7]
• Secondly, in about 1566, after the death of his first wife, he married Dorothy Wroughton, a daughter of Sir William Wroughton, of Broad Hinton, by his wife Eleanor Lewknor.^[2] She survived her husband and married secondly Carew Raleigh of Downton House near Salisbury, a Member of Parliament for Downton in 1604, and the brother of Sir Walter Raleigh.^[9] By Dorothy Wroughton he had a further five sons:^[7]
  • Egremont Thynne, who married Barbara Calthorpe;
  • Henry Thynne, who married Elizabeth Chudleigh;
  • Charles Thynne;
  • Edward Thynne, who married Theodosia Manners;
  • William Thynne, who married Alice Talbot.

Later descendants

In 1641 Thynne's great-grandson Henry Frederick Thynne (1615–1680) was created a

The arms of the head of the Thynne family of Longleat are blazoned "Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Barry of ten or and sable (Botteville); 2nd and 3rd: Argent, a lion rampant tail nowed and erect gules (Thynne)".^{[citation needed]}

References