Thomas DARCY

(1st B. Darcy of Temple Hurst)

Born: ABT 1467

Died: 30 Jun 1537/8, Beheaded

Notes: Knight of the Garter.

Father: William DARCY (8º B. Darcy of Knaith)

Mother: Eupheme LANGTON

Married 1: Dousabella TEMPEST (d. BET 1503/1520) (dau. of Richard Tempest and Mabel Strickland)

Children:

1. George DARCY (1° B. Darcy of Aston)

2. Arthur DARCY (Sir)

4. Richard DARCY

5. Mabel DARCY

Married 2: Elizabeth (Edith) SANDYS 1499

Children:

6. Elizabeth DARCY

Son and heir of Sir William Darcy, by Eupheme (m. lic. 23 Jan 1460//1), daughter of John Langton of Farnley, co. York, was born about 1467, and was a person of some distinction in the reign of Henry VII; knighted 1489; made a Knight Banneret by the Earl of Surrey in Scotland 1497. In the 17th Hen. VII., Sir Thomas Darcy was sent on an embassy to Scotland, and the following entry occurs in the Privy Purse of that sovereign. "To Sir Thomas Darcy going in embasade to Scotland 20 s". Constable of Bamburgh Castle Jun 1498; Capt. of Berwick 1498-1515; Treasurer of Berwick Sep 1501; Warden of the East Marches Oct 1511; nom. K.G. 18, and inst. 21 May 1509; Warden of the Forests North of Trent Jun 1509. He was summoned to Parl. certainly from 17 Oct 1509, and probably 5 years before, until 3 Nov 1529, by writs directed Thome Darcy de Darcy Chl'r, whereby he became Lord Darcy of Temple Newsam or Temple Hurst. Barony by Writ. I. 1504 or 1509 to 1537.  Sent in May 1511 with a thousand men to aid Ferdinand of Spain in an assault on the Moors in North Africa that was abandoned before it was launched, Darcy had accomplished almost nothing and had let his men run amok in an embarrassing drunken riot in Cadiz. He held a command on the right wing at Therouanne in 1513; P.C., and in great favor with the King; subscribed the letter to the Pope praying for the King's divorce, but opposed the dissolution of the monasteries, and finally joined in Aske's rebellion, called the Pilgrimage of Grace. He had lic. on account of age and infirmity, 28 Oct 1535, to absent himself from Parl. Although, as Lord Darcy, he had had a general pardon as recently as 18 Jan 1536/7, he was convicted of high treason on the charge of delivering up Pontefract Castle to the rebels, and was beheaded on Tower Hill, 30 Jun 1537, when, having been attainted, all his honours became forfeited.

He married firstly, Dousabella, daughter and heir of Sir Richard Tempest of Giggleswick, in Ribblesdale, co. York, by Mabel, daughter of Walter Strickland of Sizergh, Westmoreland. She was living 1503. He married secondly, before 1520, Edith, widow of Ralph Neville, styled Lord Neville, sister of William, 1st Lord Sandys of the Vine, Hants., daughter of Sir William Sandys of the Vine, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Cheney of Shurland. She died at Stepney, 22 and was buried 25 Aug 1529, at the Friars Observants, Greenwich. He died, as aforesaid, 30 Jun 1537, and was buried in the Church of St. Botolph, Aldgate (as was, in 1561, his younger son, Sir Arthur Darcy), under a costly monument.

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