# Thomas Urswick

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Urswick
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Urswick.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Urswick
> Source revision: 1318751275
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Urswick, Sir Thomas (c.1415–1479), lawyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Thomas Urswyk illustrationsofm00camb 0182.jpg|thumb|Thomas Urswyk and his family. Memorial brass from the church of Saints Peter and Paul, [Dagenham](/source/Dagenham)]]
'''Sir Thomas Urswick''' (c.1415–1479), also referred to as '''Urswyk''' or '''Urswyck''', was an English lawyer who became [Recorder of London](/source/Recorder_of_London) and [Chief Baron of the Exchequer](/source/Chief_Baron_of_the_Exchequer). He was one of the leading citizens of London who admitted [Edward IV](/source/Edward_IV) into the city in 1471, which led to the imprisonment and death of [Henry VI](/source/Henry_VI_of_England).

==Biography==
Little is known of Urswick's private life. He was probably from a north country family, born about 1415, the son of Sir Thomas Urswick of Badsworth, and his wife Joan. He studied law at [Gray's Inn](/source/Gray's_Inn).<ref name=ODNB>{{Cite ODNB|id=28025|title=Urswick, Sir Thomas}}</ref> He was elected to the office of [Common Serjeant of the City of London](/source/Common_Serjeant_of_London) in 1453, and then elected [Recorder](/source/Recorder_of_London) the following year. In 1461 he became one of the four London Members of Parliament.<ref name=ODNB/><ref name=Camden>{{cite book |last1=Cambridge Camden Society |title=Illustrations of monumental brasses |date=1846 |orig-date=first published c1482|publisher=J.T. Walters |location=Cambridge |pages=99–107 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustrationsofm00camb}}</ref>

In April 1471, during the [Wars of the Roses](/source/Wars_of_the_Roses), Henry VI was in London, staying in the palace of the Bishop of London. The population in general supported the King, and turned out armed to support him. A group of leading citizens with Yorkist sympathies, including Urswick, advised the crowd to go home, and allowed Edward IV to enter the city. Edward was able to seize and imprison Henry, who died not long after in the tower. Urswick then played a prominent part in the defeat of the attack by [Thomas Fauconberg](/source/Thomas_Neville_(died_1471)) on London in May, and was knighted in June 1471.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warkworth |first1=John |title=A chronicle of the first thirteen years of the reign of King Edward the Fourth |date=1839 |orig-date=first published c1482 |publisher=Camden Society |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleoffirst00warkrich/page}}</ref><ref name=ODNB/><ref name=Camden/>

thumb|left|Marks Manor House, near Romford, Urswick's country home<ref name=Lyson>{{cite book |last=Lyson |first=Daniel |title=The environs of London: being an historical account of the towns, villages, and hamlets, within twelve miles of that capital interspersed with biographical anecdotes. Volume 4 |page=187 |date=1792 |publisher=T. Cadell |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/environsoflondon04lyso/page/n213}}</ref>
In May 1471, Urswick was appointed [Chief Baron of the Exchequer](/source/Chief_Baron_of_the_Exchequer), a position he held until his death.<ref name=Rolls>{{cite book |last1=Great Britain.Public Record Office |title=Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office : Edward IV, Henry VI, A.D. 1467-1477 |date=1900 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/calendarofpatent00grea}}</ref>{{rp|259}} He received a fee of 110 marks yearly, and also two robes yearly, one with skin at Christmas, and one with lining at Whitsuntide.{{r|Rolls|page=293}} His main country residence was at [Marks Manor](/source/Marks_(manor_house)), near [Romford](/source/Romford), a moated house "of considerable antiquity" (since demolished).<ref name=Camden/> The memorial brass in Dagenham parish church shows that he had four sons and nine daughters, though when he died in 1479 only five daughters survived as heirs.<ref name=Camden/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urswick, Thomas}}
Category:Recorders of London
Category:Chief Barons of the Exchequer
Category:1479 deaths

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Urswick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Urswick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Urswick?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.