Thomas Seckford
|
|
Thomas Seckford
|
Perhaps the most famous Woodbridge inhabitant, Thomas Seckford (1515
-1587), was a prominent lawyer, politician and member of Queen Elizabeth's
inner circle. Influential in the sixteenth century, his bequests to
the town of Woodbridge continue to have a significant impact to this
day.
Born into a well established and wealthy family whose estates stretched
over a large part of the east of Suffolk, Thomas Seckford is believed
to have studied at Trinity College, Cambridge before entering Gray's
Inn in 1540. William Cecil, later Lord Burghley and a favourite
of Queen Elizabeth I, was his contemporary there and soon the two men
became firm friends, working together on a number of occasions
throughout
their lives.
Within two years Seckford had become a barrister and in 1556 reached
a position of national influence being appointed as Lent Reader
to Gray's Inn; his promotion was fast and he was soon a Master of the
|
|
Seckford Hall
|
Court of Requests, a most sort after position. A medieval concept
reinstated
in the sixteenth century and run by professional judges, the
Court dealt with pleas of poor men by means of petitions to the crown;
cases
being heard during the royal progresses around the realm. In
addition to his lucrative fees as Master of the Courts of Request he
received £100
a year from Queen Elizabeth for 'attending her royal person' – Seckford
was now in a position of real influence. In 1559 Seckford was made Surveyor of the Court of Wards and Liveries;
working with Cecil to whom he was now related by marriage,
Seckford and Cecil had sway over some of the largest estates in the
kingdom.
As an eminent lawyer he was also involved in the judgment
of a number of high profile treason cases including some affecting
his own family,
not all of whom had given up their allegiance to Catholicism
with Seckford's alacrity.
Despite Seckford's commitment to the law he remained a Suffolk
man pursuing a parliamentary career as elected member for Ipswich
from 1559 and purchasing land and property throughout the east
of the county
as well as in Essex and Clerkenwell. In the sixteenth century
Clerkenwell was seen as a leafy retreat from the noise and filth
of London. Seckford
saw an opportunity for profit and tried his hand, very
successfully, at development.
|
|
Seckford's home now The Abbey School
|
Seckford Hall had
been left to his older brother so Thomas purchased his own manor
house, now the Abbey School in Woodbridge,
as well as
a very prestigious property in Ipswich and even had a
home built on his land in Clerkenwell. In
1567 Seckford married Elizabeth, widow of Sir Martin Bowes. From
now on he spent more time in his beloved Woodbridge
running
his legal activities from the Shire Hall and having
a family tomb built
at St Mary's Church.
|
|
St Mary's Church Woodbridge
|
He was honoured in 1571 becoming Knight of the Shire
of Suffolk. But he could never be described as provincial. His time
in
court had
given
him an interest in map making and supported Elizabethan
cartographers. Christopher Saxton, (described as Seckford's pupil)
was commissioned
by the Queen on Seckford's recommendation to create the
first county maps of England and thus England's very first
atlas which bore the
arms of both Queen Elizabeth and Thomas Seckford upon its
pages. Seckford held strong religious
beliefs and in his work saw the true
impact of poverty and vagrancy in London. As a man
of power and great wealth he felt it his duty to do what he could for
the poor. In Woodbridge he founded
an almshouse for 13 poor men, as well as making important
bequests to the poor of Woodbridge, Ipswich and Clerkenwell
within his will.
Such generosity must
have had a real impact on this small medieval market town; what
is unusual is that the effects
of the Seckford bequests are still very much
apparent today. The significant increase in property values in the
eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries
meant that the charity's funds burgeoned and
the Seckford
Foundation was able to support the Hospital,
Almshouse, Woodbridge School, the
Dispensary (now a private house on the corner
of Seckford Street) and the Seckford Library.
|
|
Woodbridge School (old postcard)
|
|
