Sir Phillip TYRWHITT of Stainfield, Knight

Born: ABT 1510

Died: 29 Nov 1558, Stainfield, Lincolnshire, England

Father: Robert TYRWHITT of Kettelby (Sir Knight)

Mother: Maud TALBOYS

Married: Margaret BARNABY (dau. of Edward Barnaby) BEF 1532, Barton upon Humber, Lincolnshire, England

Children:

1. Edward TYRWHITT of Stainfield

2. Thomas TYRWHITT

3. Son TYRWHITT

4. Son TYRWHITT

5. Catherine TYRWHITT

6. Helen TYRWHITT

7. Dau. TYRWHITT

8. Dau. TYRWHITT

9. Dau. TYRWHITT

10. Dau. TYRWHITT

The details in this biography come from the History of Parliament, a biographical dictionary of Members of the House of Commons.

Born ABT 1510, third son of Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby by Maud, dau. of Sir Robert Tailboys, de jure 8th Lord Kyme; brother of Sir Robert. Married by 1532, Margaret, dau. of Edward Barnaby of Barton upon Humber. J.p. Lincs. (Lindsey) 1547-54; commr. sewers, Lincs. 1547, Cambs., Hunts., I. of Ely, Lincs., Northants., and Notts. 1555, relief, Lincs. (Lindsey) 1550.

Phillip Tyrwhitt appears not to have pursued a profession or sought public employment, although his choice by John Bellow in 1547 and Sir Anthony Neville ten years later as a trustee for family settlements may mean that he had some legal training. With other members of his family he was caught up in the Lincolnshire rebellion of 1536, his father being coerced into momentary support of the rebels and he himself described by one of them as a ‘captain of the commons of Louth’. Like his father, he must have cleared himself without delay: in Jan 1537 Sir Ralph Ellerker sent for him to accompany Sir William Askew and 100 men to Hull, and later in that year he was one of the grand jury for the trial of Lords Darcy and Hussey. In 1541 he served in the same capacity for Culpeper and Dereham, accused of lovers of Queen Catherine Howard.

It was doubtless his marriage which led Tyrwhitt to settle at Barton, where he was domiciled when he sued out a general pardon at the accession of Mary. His knighthood of the shire in the Queen's third Parliament he presumably owed to the standing of his family: his elder brother had gained it in 1545 and his nephew Robert had done so twice since. He was to be one of the three Lincolnshire Members another being his kinsman Thomas Constable, sitting for Grimsby who quitted the Parliament without leave before its dissolution and who were prosecuted for that dereliction. After being distrained once for non-appearance, he was fined 53s.4d. in Hilary term 1556, his sureties being his brother Sir Robert and Thomas Tyrwhitt of the Middle Temple. Beyond the fact of the fine there is nothing to indicate whether he had left the Parliament in protest or had decided to spend Christmas at home.

Tyrwhitt made his will on 21 Sep 1558 and died in the following Nov. His son Edward, then rising 25, inherited a modest estate in South Somercotes, and his widow was to have all his leases for life and the use of the parsonage of Barton for 12 years as a home for the younger children. Three sons and four unmarried daughters were given sums ranging from £50 to £120, and there were gifts to five churches and for the repair of highways. The will was proved on behalf of the widow and heir on 18 Jan 1559.

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