Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 2nd Baronet
Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 2nd Baronet (1596–1686) was an
Background
He was the eldest son of Sir John Gascoigne, 1st Baronet, of Barnbow and Parlington Hall, Yorkshire, the head of a devoutly
After succeeding to the title in 1637 Sir Thomas spent much of his life quietly managing his estates and his lucrative
Popish (Barnbow) Plot
During the Popish Plot, (known locally as the Barnbow Plot, from the Gascoigne family estate of that name), he was accused of conspiracy to kill King Charles II by two disgruntled former employees, Bolron and Mowbray, but was acquitted, and retired to spend his last years in Germany.[7]
As J.P. Kenyon remarks, even in the general atmosphere of anti-Catholic hysteria created by the Popish Plot, it is difficult to see how the authorities could have taken seriously such accusations against a man who was nearly 85, deaf and almost blind, who rarely visited London and indeed had scarcely left his own estate for the past 30 years.[7] Gascoigne, ordered to stand his trial in London, sensibly demanded to be tried by a Yorkshire jury. The delay in bringing the jury down allowed him time to prepare his defence; and the judges admitted that the jurors were better equipped to decide on the credibility of witnesses, most of whom the jurors knew personally, than were the judges themselves.
By the spring of 1680, the hysteria caused by the Popish Plot was waning. The judges who tried Gascoigne, Sir
However, his nephew Thomas Thwing was also charged, although as something of an afterthought to implicate more of Gascoigne's relatives. The prosecution made much of a so-called "list of conspirators", which in reality were individuals who had subscribed to support the new convent at Dolebank which Gascoigne's daughter Lady Tempest had recently founded, and where three of Thwing's sisters were nuns. Being a priest, Thwing was the only one found guilty. The King at first reprieved him, but owing to a remonstrance of the Commons the death warrant was issued on the day after the meeting of Parliament. Thwing was hung, drawn, and quartered at the Tyburn in York on 23 October 1680.[10] J.P. Kenyon observed that Thwing was executed for conspiracy, despite the logical difficulty of a conspiracy without any other conspirators.[11]
Death and family
Gascoigne left England for good shortly after his acquittal and settled in Germany. He died in 1686 at
He left £450 (c. £38,000 at 2010 valuation, with the purchasing power of 5,054 days of a craftsman's wages in the building trade.
The British consul at Amsterdam, who visited him at his last refuge in Lamspringe Abbey, called him "a very good, harmless gentleman", who was clearly innocent of the crimes of which he had been accused.[1]
References
- ^
- ^ Lee, Sidney "Thomas Gascoigne (1596?-1686)" Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900 Vol. 21 p.44
- OCLC 713592.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68225. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10426. Retrieved 16 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c Kenyon 2000, p. 227.
- ^ a b Kenyon 2000, p. 225.
- ^ a b Kenyon 2000, p. 226.
- ^ Kenyon 2000, pp. 225–227.
- ^ Challoner, Richard. "Thomas Thwing, Priest", Memoirs of Missionary Priests, Thomas Jones, 1842 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Kenyon 2000.
- ^ National Archives - Currency converter
Further reading
- R. v. Gascoigne (1680), reported State Trials Volume 7 p. 960
External links
- Portrait of Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 2nd Baronet, by Cornelius de Neve. Bridgeman Art Library / Leeds Museums and Galleries (Lotherton Hall).