TRACY, Sir John I (d.1591), of Toddington, Glos.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

1st s. of Henry Tracy of Toddington by Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos. educ. L. Inn 1566. m. Anne, da. of Sir Thomas Throckmorton of Coss Court, 6s. inc. Sir John II 3da. suc.fa. 1557. Kntd. 1574.

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. from 1564; eccles commr. 1575; commr. to inquire into decay of cloth trade in Glos. 1577, piracy 1578, recusancy 1580; sheriff 1578-9.

Biography

The parliamentary return for Gloucestershire in 1584 is missing. Browne Willis gives the name of this Member as Sir John Darcy, but there was no knight of that name living in Gloucestershire at the time, and the MP was almost certainly Sir John Tracy of Toddington, who was knighted during the Queen’s visit to Bristol in 1574. He was on two committees during this Parliament, for the subsidy, 24 Feb. 1585, and for the preservation of game, 4 Mar. Tracy owned considerable estates in Gloucestershire, including Toddington, which had been in the hands of his family since Domesday, and Fairford, which he purchased from Sir Henry Unton for £1,126. He was active in local affairs, and led the Gloucestershire levies in Armada year. He died 25 Sept. 1591.

Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 167; PCC 33 Wrastley; Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. xv. 37; xvii. 136; lix. 66-70; CSP Dom. 1547-80, p. 609; 1581-90, p. 522; D’Ewes, 356, 363, 363; APC, x. 29; xii. 193, 241; C142/232/51.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.J.C.

Notes