Thomas Habington facts for kids
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Sir Thomas Habington (1560–1647) was an English Catholic who loved studying old things and history. He is known as an "antiquary."
Early Life and Family
Thomas Habington was born in Thorpe, Surrey, in 1560. His father, John Habington, managed money for Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth herself was Thomas's godmother!
In 1563, his family bought a large estate called Hindlip in Worcestershire. They built a new house there, Hindlip Hall. The Queen even visited their new home in 1575.
Thomas went to Lincoln College, Oxford to study. He also spent some time at a college in Rheims, France, before returning home when his father passed away in 1581. He later studied law at Gray's Inn.
Around 1593, Thomas married Mary Parker. Her father was Lord Morley. Thomas and Mary had five children, including a famous poet named William Habington.
Challenges and Royal Connections
Thomas Habington faced some difficult times. His older brother, Edward, was involved in a plan called the Babington Plot in 1586. This plot aimed to help Mary, Queen of Scots escape. Edward was executed for his part in it.
Thomas and his younger brother, Richard, were arrested because people thought they might have been involved too. They were held in the Tower of London for six years. Even though there was no direct proof against Thomas, he was seen as someone who talked with Catholic priests. After his release, he was allowed to live at Hindlip Hall.
Later, after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, Thomas gave a safe place to two Jesuit priests, Henry Garnett and Edward Oldcorne. For this, he was sentenced to death. However, his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, helped him. The sentence was changed, and Thomas was pardoned.
It was once thought that Thomas was not allowed to leave Worcestershire after his pardon, but this was not true. Still, he mostly stayed out of public life. He spent his time working on a detailed history of every parish (local area) in Worcestershire. He passed away in 1647 and was buried in his family's vault at Hindlip.
His Writings and Historical Work
Thomas Habington published only one book during his lifetime. It was the first English translation of a very old book called De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by a writer named Gildas. Thomas finished this translation while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
He also started writing a history of King Edward IV. His son, William Habington, finished this book, and it was published in 1640.
In the 1630s, Thomas began writing to another history expert, Sir Simon Archer. People hoped Thomas would write a complete history of Worcestershire.
Some of his writings were published after he died. His book The Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of Worcester came out in 1717. Later, another historian, Treadway Russell Nash, used Thomas's notes for his own book, Collections for the History of Worcestershire (1781–82).
In the late 1800s, some of Thomas's handwritten notes were put together and published as A Survey of Worcestershire (in two volumes, 1895–99). Today, his original notes are kept safe in the library of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
