[4] They had the following children: Thomas' forebears, the Parrs of Kendal, were a down-to-earth northern landed gentry family.

His mother and grandmother had been royal ladies-in-waiting, and this enabled Thomas to acquire a polished upbringing at the English court.

[2] According to biographer Susan James, the young Thomas most likely studied under Maurice Westbury of Oxford, learning (among other things) classical Greek and Latin as well as modern languages.

It was at Collyweston that certain gentlemen, including the son of the Earl of Westmoreland, not only received an education but also acquired political connections that would prove useful in their future careers.

Thomas' father, the first Baron Parr of Kendal, had once been Lady Margaret Beaufort's revisionary[clarification needed] heir to her substantial lands in Westmoreland, known as the Richmond fee.

These teachings embraced the discipline of mathematics, which Thomas' daughter Catherine put to good use in her later capacity as the lady of a succession of important households.

He did, however, hold messuages, lands, woods, and rents in Parr, Wigan, and Sutton, as well as the manor of Thurnham.

After the birth of their fourth child, Anne, Maud fell pregnant again – in circa 1517, the year of her husband's death.