Thomas Lascelles (1624–1658)
Thomas Lascelles (variously spelled both Lascelles and Lassells) (c. 1624 – c. 1658) was an officer in the Commonwealth's army and a landowner, responsible for Mount Grace Charterhouse, one of the few extant buildings from the period of the English Commonwealth.
Early life[edit]
Lascelles was born in 1624, the son of William Lascelles and Elizabeth Wadeson.[1] His brother was Francis Lascelles, who was an MP for the constituency of Northallerton[2] and was involved in the trial of Charles the First.[3]
Army Service[edit]
During the Commonwealth period, Thomas was a captain in the army of Parliament (a Parliamentary note making it clear he had been in service since 1644) and served under Major General Thomas Harrison during the 1650s.[4] He may well be the same man responsible for the capture on 1 April 1650 of Royalist privateer Captain Joseph Constant and his 30-man Dutch crew. After Constant's being sighted off the Yorkshire coast by a local fisherman, Lassells and Robert Colman led an attack party which surprised and captured them.[5]
Mount Grace Priory[edit]
In 1654 Thomas acquired Mount Grace Charterhouse and transformed part of the western range of the outer court into a house.[6] This remains as a rare example of Commonwealth building in the UK.
Death[edit]
Thomas died in or soon after 1658, as emerges from a 1672 inheritance dispute between his widow Ruth and their grandson, also named Thomas Lascelles, who was the heir of Mount Grace.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ LDS genealogical department medieval families unit
- ^ Northallerton Constituency
- ^ Mark Noble (1798). The Lives of the English Regicides: And Other Commissioners of the Pretended, J. Stockdale. Page 375
- ^ British History Online
- ^ Leyland, John. The Yorkshire Coast and the Cleveland Hills and Dales. London: Seeley & Company, 1892. (pg. 212-213)
- ^ A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2, Wm Page (Ed)
- ^ Chancery Proceeding C6/64/61, The National Archives, Kew