Thomas Thursby

Thomas Thursby (died 9 August 1510[1]), was a merchant, three times Mayor of King's Lynn and the founder and benefactor of Thoresby College.

[1] Thomas' brother, Robert Thursby, was Burgess for Lynn 1462–3, 1482–3 and 1487, holding the manors of Ashwicken and Burg's Hall in Hillington before his death, 29 October 1500.

In his will he leaves 'my special good lord of Oxenford', John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, a tabernacle of our Lady of gold.

[12][13] Francis Blomefield saw a north isle window in St. Laurence's Church, Norwich, commemorating Elizabeth's three husbands, bearing the inscription:[6]Orate pro bono statu Thome Thirsby, et Eliz.

Aylmer quondam maiorum Civitatis NorwiciThere were four Thomas Thursbys in the same geographical area in the same time period, which has through the centuries made unambiguous identification challenging.

Thomas Thursby (1450-1510) was one of the most well documented as he was mayor of King's Lynn several times, also Lord of the Manor of Gayton and an ancestor of Prince William through the Spencer family.

The landlord Thomas Thursby was accused of appropriating most of the common land for himself, by enclosing it and converting it to pasture for his sheep, and of evicting tenants from their homes before demolishing them.

Norfolk landowners also followed this pattern - the most famous being the Townshends of Raynham and the Fermors of East Barsham, who owned huge flocks in the Fakenham area.

In an inquiry of 1517, Thomas Thursby, lord of the manor of Gayton, was accused of enclosing arable lands in Ashwicken, Leizate and Bawsey, as well as depopulating the hamlet of Holt in the parish of Mintlyn.

A map of about 1690 shows there were still approximately ten houses in Mintlyn, and even the modern Ordnance Survey maps record Mintlyn Farm close to the ruined church, and White House Farm near a moated site in the south-east of the parish[19]Since this inquest took place in 1517,[20] they would have had some difficulty in summoning the Thomas Thursby who died in 1510.

The will of Thomas Thursby, Burgess and Merchant of Lynn Bishop, Norfolk, was dated 3 May 1510, sealed 2 June 1510 and proven 23 October 1510.