Thomas Wentworth (Recorder of Oxford)
- Thomas Wentworth (Recorder of Oxford)
Thomas Wentworth (c. 1568-1628) was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) who was a vocal if imprudent defender of the rights of the House of Commons.
The third son of Peter Wentworth of Lillingstone Lovell in Oxfordshire, a prominent Puritan leader in Parliament during the reign of Elizabeth I, Thomas was educated at University College, Oxford and was called to the bar in 1594. He was a member of Lincoln's Inn, and was appointed Lent Reader in 1612.
He was MP for Oxford City from 1604 until his death, and Recorder of Oxford from 1607 to 1623. In Parliament he was an ardent and sometimes violent opponent of the Crown and of the abuse of royal prerogatives. He opposed the projected union of England and Scotland when it was discussed in 1607. In 1614 he spoke in Parliament against the imposition of illegal taxes, in which he argued that the Spanish loss of the Netherlands and the recent assassination of Henry IV of France were the "just reward" for such impositions; for this inflammatory speech he was imprisoned after the dissolution of Parliament, chiefly to appease the French ambassador. In 1621 he opposed the proposed marriage of the Prince of Wales to a Spanish princess, and when the King angrily wrote to the Speaker that the Commons should not interfere with such matters of state, he boldly stated that he "never yet read of anything that was not fit for the consideration of a parliament". In 1624 he was a strong advocate of declaring war on Spain.
Wentworth fell out with Oxford University, both for his activities in Parliament and his conduct as Recorder of Oxford, in particular his support for the City's desire to establish a police force to patrol the streets at night. This led to his being discommonsed (suspended from membership of the University) by the Vice-Chancellor in 1611 as a "malicious and implacable fomentor of troubles", although the authorities relented in 1614.
He married Dorothy Keble, daughter of Thomas Keble of Newbottle in Northamptonshire, and they had seven sons and two daughters. He died at Henley-on-Thames in 1628.
References
* Dictionary of National Biography
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