Family and Education

Prob. 1st s. of Roger Jukes of Buttington by his 2nd w. Alice, da. of Sir Thomas Leighton of Wattlesborough, Salop. educ. Shrewsbury 1562. m. (1) Dorothy, da. of Richard Sandford of Upper Rossall, nr. Shrewsbury, Salop by Mary, da. of Humphrey Plowden of Plowden, Salop, sis. of Edmund Plowden^†, 1s. d.v.p.; (2) Margaret, da. and coh. of John Biste of Attingham, Salop, wid. of John Dewes or Dawes, ?s.p. suc. fa. at Buttington 1559.

Offices Held

J.p. Mont. 1579, q. 1592, sheriff 1579-80, 1601-2, 1620-1, jt. commr. for taxes 1584-5, dep. lt. 1600; foreign burgess of Bishop’s Castle 1587; chief steward of lordship of Powis 1612-23; steward of Welshpool by 1615.

Biography

When he made his will in 1559 Jukes’s father held a leasehold estate in Buttington, and other land in Montgomeryshire, and was in the process of purchasing (for £243 6s.8d.) the Shropshire manor of Rotlinghope. After the death of his mother, Thomas was to inherit most of this property, his half-brother Roger—Roger Jukes’s son by his first wife—being provided with an estate in Doddington, Shropshire. The father committed Thomas to the care of his mother until he should be 19, so that he should be brought up in ‘good and virtuous living and learning’, on the condition that if his mother died, or if he made a suitable marriage, even if he were not sixteen at the time, then he should be given his portion. In view of his father’s desire that Thomas should be brought up in learning it is perhaps surprising that he did not enter one of the universities after leaving Shrewsbury school, but no record of university attendance has been found.

Jukes appears to have been largely occupied with local government in Montgomeryshire for a considerable part of his life, but it was only in 1597 that he was returned to Parliament for the boroughs of Montgomery, his first seat in the Commons having been for the newly enfranchised borough of Bishop’s Castle in 1584. Here, Jukes’s relative, Edmund Plowden, whose estate was close to the town and whose influence in its enfranchisement may be inferred, was probably responsible for the nomination in 1584 of the town’s first two Members, Jukes’s brother-in-law John Cole being the other Member. In Montgomery Jukes was, no doubt, a well-known figure, but it is unlikely that he was returned as a Member for the borough without the support of the Herberts who dominated the town. Only one reference to Jukes in the Commons has survived: on 17 Nov. 1597 he was added to the committee for the examination of privileges and returns. All Members for Welsh constituencies were appointed to the Newport bridge committee on the following 29 Nov.

In his will, made on 30 Mar. 1628, Jukes asked to be buried in the chapel at Buttington, providing £5 towards its repair. Bequests were made to his grandchildren and to other relatives, and he arranged for the payment of a debt of £500. The executor was Sir Percy Herbert, who proved the will on 26 June 1628.

Mont. Colls. iv. 392-6; xlviii. 213; Salop Arch. Soc. Trans. (ser. 2), x. 35-6; Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 212; Hatfield ms 278; Bishop’s Castle corp. min. bk. ff. 3, 44; PCC 57 Chaynay, 55 Barrington; Neale, Commons, 99-100; D’Ewes, 558, 565.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: A. M. Mimardière

Notes