- Thomas Bendish
Born in 1607, Sir Thomas Bendish, 2nd Bart of
Steeple Bumpstead , served as the Englishambassador to the Ottoman sultanate in the mid-17th century.He enrolled in
Middle Temple in 1626, after earlier studying at St John's College, Cambridge. Later in life, he would donate fifty books to St John's, of which forty are still kept today. [ [http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/library/special_collections/early_books/pix/provenance/bendish/bendish.htm Sir Thomas Bendish ] ]Two decades later he was banned from
Essex , had his estates seized, and was imprisoned in theTower of London after siding with King Charles I during theEnglish Civil War . He was released on28 September , 1644,a fter paying a 1,000 pound fine - although he remained banned from coming within 20 miles of Essex. [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=37608 House of Lords Journal Volume 6 - 28 September 1644 | British History Online ] ]On
January 29 , 1647, theHouse of Lords named him ambassador to the Ottoman Empire [ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34202 House of Lords Journal Volume 8 - 29 January 1647 | British History Online ] ] , although upon his entrance to Istanbul he was confronted by the earlier ambassador who refused to relinquish his post, and had to be forcibly removed from office. [ [http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/library/special_collections/early_books/pix/provenance/bendish/bendish.htm Sir Thomas Bendish ] ]While in office, it is known that he personally saw to
Isaac Barrow , during the latter's visit toConstantinople . [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Isaac_Barrow Isaac Barrow - LoveToKnow 1911 ] ]His son drowned at sea, and his wife Anne Baker died from the
Bubonic Plague . He was imprisoned by the Ottomans at one point due to a commercial dispute with clerics.Bendish was recalled from his post some time before 1655. He died in 1674.
References
*, mention of Bendish
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