Family and Education

b. June 1606, 1st s. of Sir William Throckmorton, 1st Bt. of Tortworth, Glos. by Cicely, da. and coh. of Thomas Baynham of Clearwell. educ. I. Temple 1623. m. c.1626, Margaret (d.1635) da. of Robert Hopton of Witham Friary, Som. and coh. to her bro. Sir Ralph Hopton^†, 1st Baron Hopton of Stratton, 5s. suc. fa. 18 July 1628.1

Offices Held

J.p. Glos. by 1634-45, July 1660-d.; chief forester, Forest of Dean by 1634-45; sheriff, Glos. 1642-3, commr. of array 1642, oyer and terminer, Oxford circuit July 1660, assessment, Glos. Aug. 1660-d., loyal and indigent officers 1662.2

Lt.-col. of horse (royalist) 1642-5.3

Biography

Throckmorton was descended from a branch of the ancient West Midlands family which had established itself in Gloucestershire early in the 15th century, first representing the county in Armada year. Throckmorton obtained a crown lease in the Forest of Dean in 1635 with three partners, and took an active part in the iron industry. In 1637, however, he conveyed all his estate to trustees for payment of his debts. A Royalist in the Civil War, he surrendered at Gloucester in December 1645 on a pass procured by Sir Anthony Irby. His fine, on lands which he valued at £625 p.a., was fixed at £1,000, but on his failure to pay they were sold by the Treason Trustees to a certain Thomas Gookin. This was probably a collusive purchase to free Throckmorton from his creditors’ pressure. He was ordered to be taken into custody during Booth’s rising, but released On £2,000 bail.4

Throckmorton stood for the county with some reluctance in 1661, fearing the expense of a contested election. Although his return was not confirmed until 19 Apr. 1662, he was listed as a friend by Lord Wharton and took a very active part in the Cavalier Parliament from the first, being appointed to 134 committees, including those for the corporations and uniformity bills and the bill of pains and penalties. He was teller in four divisions and four times carried messages for the Commons. Although presumably a court supporter, his applications for timber and ironworks in the Forest of Dean do not seem to have been successful. He acted as teller for a proviso to the militia bill on 17 July 1661, and eight days later was instructed to attend Lord Treasurer Southampton with an order on the Forest of Dean. On 30 July he was sent to the Lords to desire a conference on the bill for London and Westminster highways, and after the autumn recess he was among those Members appointed to consider the bill for the execution of those under attainder, and to inquire when the King would receive a petition for disarming the disbanded soldiers of the Cromwellian army. On 13 Feb. 1662 he was again employed as a messenger to the lord treasurer from the Commons about the Forest of Dean. His committee work in the second and third sessions suggests that he was a strong Anglican. He was among those appointed to bring in a bill against the growth of Popery and to provide remedies against the meetings of nonconformists. He was also included in the committee to consider the petition from the loyal and indigent officers. But his remaining tellerships were all concerned with private bills. He was teller for the second reading of the Lords bill to Settle an annuity of £300 on the Earl of Portland and for recommending the bishop of Winchester to renew a lease to a sitting tenant. In the third session, he was teller for the bill to settle certain marshlands in Hampshire on Lady Wandesford. He was also appointed to the committee on the bill against seditious conventicles. He died on 28 May 1664, and was buried at St. Margaret’s, Westminster.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: John. P. Ferris

Notes

• 1. Vis. Glos. (Harl. Soc. xxi), 163-4.
• 2. C. R. Hart, Royal Forest, 133, 279; W. H. Black, Docquets of Letters Patent, 12.
• 3. E. Warburton, Mems. Prince Rupert, ii. 69.
• 4. Bristol and Glos. Arch. Soc. Trans. vii. 194; Hart, 117; SP23/195, ff. 538-50; CSP Dom. 1659-60, pp. 75. 150.
• 5. HMC 5th Rep. 345; CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 430; CJ, viii. 317, 475, 520, 541.