Thomas of Moulton

Sir Thomas of Moulton (d. 1240) was a British landowner and judge. He fought as a knight in Normandy in 1202-3, in Wales in 1211 and in Poitou in 1214. He was an unlucky speculator under King John, owing over £800 when the Exchequer reopened after the end of the First Barons' War. In 1205 he purchased the office of High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, which he held until 1208. Unable to pay his debts, he was imprisoned in Rochester Castle until he had discharged them. He regained royal favour, and in 1213 was appointed to investigate extortions by the High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. As a northern lord and debtor Moulton sided with the Barons during the civil war, and was one of the rebels who mustered at Stamford in 1215. As a consequence he was excommunicated in 1216, having previously been captured by the King in 1215. He was entrusted to Peter de Mauley and his lands were confiscated, being restored in 1217.

He first married Sara of Fleet before 1200. In 1214 he was the custodian of Richard de Lucy, and after Lucy's death in 1218 he married his widow, receiving the title of Forester of Cumberland. For marrying a widow in royal custody he was fined 1000 Marks. Under Henry III Moulton became an important royal agent in the north; between 1217 and 1218 he was an itinerant justice for Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Northumberland. In 1224 he sat as a justice at Westminster, a position he held until 1236. In 1229 he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a position he held until 1233 and again between 1234 and 1236. Between 1233 and 1236 he was High Sheriff of Cumberland and constable of Carlisle Castle. His last activity was in 1238, when he worked as a surveyor of the royal demesne in Cumberland, dying in 1240.

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