Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth
Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth,
Upon the Restoration, the title of
He acquired the Navigation of the Warwickshire Avon from James, Duke of York and employed Andrew Yarranton to restore Pershore Sluice, thus restoring navigation from Tewkesbury to Evesham. He then sold two-thirds of the navigation above Evesham to Andrew Yarranton and others, who restored the navigation from there to Stratford-upon-Avon. He and George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol financed Andrew Yarranton's ultimately unsuccessful attempts to improve the River Salwarpe and River Stour to make them navigable.
He was appointed
On 6 December 1682, Windsor was created the first Earl of Plymouth, a new creation with the previous title holder having been Charles II's natural son Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth (1675–1680). He was succeeded by his grandson Other Windsor (his curious first name is a variant of Otho, a remote ancestor).
Family
He married, firstly, Anne Savile, daughter of Sir William Savile, 3rd Baronet, and Anne Coventry, on 12 May 1656. They had three children:
- Lady Mary Windsor (died 1694)
- Other Windsor, Lord Windsor (1659–1684), father of Other Windsor, 2nd Earl of Plymouth
- Ann Windsor (died in infancy)
On 9 April 1668, he married, secondly, Ursula Widdrington, daughter of Sir Thomas Widdrington and Frances Fairfax. They had six children:
- Dixie Windsor (died 1743)
- William Windsor (died 1682)
- Andrews Windsor, to whom his father gave the Upper Avon Navigation
- Lady Ursula Windsor (died 1737)
- Lady Elizabeth Windsor (died 1736), who married, as his fourth wife, Sir Francis Dashwood, 1st Baronet.
- Thomas Windsor, 1st Viscount Windsor (died 1738), to whom his father gave the Lower Avon Navigation
References
- ^ Kenyon, J. P. The Popish Plot, 2nd Edition Phoenix Press 2000, p. 62.