Barrington, Thomas (1585-01-01 - 1644-09-18)

The first son of Sir Francis Barrington and Joan Barrington (nee Crowell) the Daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell. He had a brother Robert Barrington. He was educated at Cambridge from 1601, but is not listed on ACAD (Venn) and later at Gray's Inn, described as a "serious youth, prone to bouts of depression" who widely collected books. On 16 November 1611 he married Frances Gobert (d. 1623) the daughter of John Gobert of Coventry. They would have 6 sons, 3 of whom survived to majority, and 2 daughters, 1 of whom survived to majority. After his marriage he took over Barrington Hall from his parents, who moved into Hatfield Priory. He would later inherit estates in Essex, |Yorkshire, and the Isle of Wight. Barrington kept an unusually detailed diary with notes of parliamentary committees he attended and commons debates (Essex RO, D/Dba F1/1). He was JP of Essex from 1524-6 and then again from 1628-42. After the death of his first wife, he married again on 26 October 1624 to Judith (d. 1657) the daughter of Sir Rowland Lytton of Knebworth, Herts, the widow of Sir George Smith of Annables. Judith was considered by Chamberlain to be ‘a very fit match for years, blood, estate, [and] conformity of studies (somewhat poetical)’. On the death of his father on 2 July 1628 Barrington succeeded to the baronetcy. When Parliament was reassembled in 1629 Barrington was named to a committee to promote preaching. He was also involved in a number of other ecclesiastically involved committees including one on recusancy laws and another on corrupt ecclesiastical appointments. He invested in the Providence Island Company in 1631, a puritan colonial mission. During the period of personal rule he was part of the circle of Charles I's opponents. He would represent Essex in both the Short and Long Parliaments and was a figure on the county committee during the first two years of the Civil War. He died on 18 September 1644, leaving debts of £10,000. He was succeeded by his eldest son John.