Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Darcy or of Temple Hurst ( 1467 – 30 June 1537) was an English nobleman, the only son, and heir, of Sir William Darcy (1443 – 30 May 1488) and his wife, Euphemia Langton, the daughter of Sir John Langton. Darcy was opposed to the Dissolution of the monasteries, and for his role in the Pilgrimage of Grace was convicted of high treason for delivering up Pontefract Castle to the rebels. He was executed on Tower Hill 30 June 1537.
Family The Darcy family had held lands in Lincolnshire since the Domesday survey, wherein it appears that one Norman de Areci held thirty lordships in that county by William the Conqueror's gift. A little later the name became d'Arci, later d'Arcy and finally Darcy. In the reign of Edward III they acquired by marriage other possessions in various counties, among which was the family seat of Templehurst (or Temple Hurst), near Selby in Yorkshire. Sir William Darcy died on 30 May 1488, leaving his only son and heir Thomas who was over twenty-one years of age.
Marriage and issue He married as his first wife Dousabella Tempest (died before 1500), daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Tempest of Ribblesdale, North Riding of Yorkshire and Mabel, daughter of Walter Strickland. They had three sons and a daughter: George Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Aston (died 28 Aug 1558) married Dorothy Melton (died 21 Sep 1557), daughter of John Melton of Aston and Katherine, daughter of Hugh Hastings. He was knighted 9 September 1513 at Flodden.J. Mackie, 'The English Army at Flodden', Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, VIII (Edinburgh 1951), p.79 Richard Darcy Sir Arthur Darcy (died 3 Apr 1561) married Mary Carew, daughter of Sir Nicolas Carew. He was knighted in 1523. Mabel Darcy
A letter signed "D. Darcy", believed to have been written by Dousabella to her husband in January 1537, appears actually to have been written by Dorothy, the wife of George Darcy.
In or before 1500 he married Edith Sandys (died 22 August 1529), daughter of Sir William Sandys and Edith Cheyne, daughter of Sir John Cheyne and widow of Ralph, Lord Neville (died 1498), son of Ralph Neville, 3rd Earl of Westmorland. They had a daughter: Elizabeth Darcy (c. 1501 – ) married 26 Apr 1514 Sir Marmaduke Constable (c.1498 – 20 Apr 1560) Through this marriage, Darcy became stepfather to Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland.
His wife died at Stepney on 22 August 1529, and was buried at the Friars Observant, Greenwich.
Career It is evident that Darcy's early career chiefly involved his military abilities and he had distinguished himself in the reign of Henry VII.
Some of the honours he achieved and the offices that he held included: Knighthood 1489 Knight Banneret 1497 Constable of Bamburgh Castle 1498 Captain of Berwick 1498–1515 Treasurer of Berwick 1501 Warden of the East Marches 1505 Knight of the Garter 1509 Warden of the Royal Forests, North of Trent 1509 Baron Darcy (of Darcy or of Temple Hurst) by writ, 1509 Warden of the East and Middle Marches 1511 Privy Councillor 1513
Political advancement In 1492 Darcy was bound by indenture to serve Henry VII beyond sea for a whole year with one thousand men, "himself having his costrel and page, 16 archers, and 4 bills, and 6 H." (apparently halberds) on foot. In the latter part of the same year, he attended the king at the reception of the French embassy sent to treat for peace. In 1496 he was indicted at quarter sessions in the West Riding for giving to various persons a token or livery called the Buck's Head. But next year he marched with Surrey to raise the siege of Norham Castle, and pursued King James IV on his retreat into Scotland. He was a knight for the king's body, and is so designated in the patent by which, on 8 June 1498, he was made constable and doorward of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. On 16 December of the same year he, being then captain of Berwick, was appointed deputy to Henry, Duke of York (then only 7 years old) who was warden of the east and middle marches. While thus engaged on the borders he had a good deal of correspondence with Henry's able minister Fox, Bishop of Durham, whose bishopric lay continually open to invasion.
In the same year, 1498, he was one of three commissioners appointed to assess fines on those who had taken part in the revolt on behalf of Perkin Warbeck in the previous year in Devon and Cornwall. He was also one of three appointed for a like purpose (but apparently two years later) for the counties of Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, and he himself had a special commission to execute the offices of constable and marshal of England on those who refused to compound. On 6 July 1499 he was appointed one of five ambassadors to settle disputes with Scotland. Besides being captain of Berwick, he was on 10 September 1501 appointed treasurer and chamberlain of that town, and customer of the port there. In the latter part of the year 1502, he and Henry Babington were despatched into Scotland to receive the oath of James IV to a treaty of peace, which they accordingly did at Glasgow on 10 December.
Shortly before this, in 1499/1500, he was appointed by the crown as constable and steward of Sheriff Hutton; and afterwards, on 12 July 1503, as receiver-general of the lordships, castles, and manors of Sheriff Hutton, Middleham, and Richmond in Yorkshire. On 8 June 1505 we first find him named Lord Darcy in a patent by which he was made steward of the lands of Raby and other possessions of the young Earl of Westmorland, then a minor. These offices, together with his new peerage, must have given him an influence in the north of England second only to that of the Earl of Northumberland, when on 1 September 1505 he was appointed warden of the east marches, a higher office in dignity than he had yet held, though he had discharged its duties before as deputy to another.
In 1508 he was one of fifteen lords bound by the treaty for the marriage of the king's daughter Mary with Charles of Castile (afterwards Emperor Charles V) that that marriage should be completed when the bride came to marriageable age. He was also one of the witnesses of the celebration of the match by proxy at Richmond on 17 December following. Just after the accession of Henry VIII in the following spring, he was made a knight of the Garter. He was installed on 21 May. Some changes were then made in his appointments and he gave up the constableship and stewardship of Sheriff Hutton, which were given to Sir Richard Cholmeley in his place. But most of the others were renewed, especially his commission as warden of the east marches and captain of Berwick. For these and a number of other offices new patents were granted to him on 18 June 1509, on which day he was also appointed warden, chief justice, and Justice in Eyre of forests beyond Trent. He was also named to the king's council, and when in London he took part in its deliberations, and signed warrants as a privy councillor. His name stood first in the commission of array for Northumberland; and when the bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne had to be repaired it was to be done under the supervision of Darcy and the prior of Durham.
On 17 October 1509, Darcy was summoned to parliament and was created Baron Darcy de Darcy. The same year he also was invested as Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG).
Foreign expeditions In 1511 Darcy was sent to Spain at his own request to aid Ferdinand in his war against the Moors, the Spanish king having solicited the aid of fifteen hundred English archers. On 8 March, or rather apparently on the 28th, he received his commission from Henry VIII to serve as Ferdinand's admiral, and on the 29th Lord Willoughby de Broke and others were commissioned to muster men for him. The expedition sailed from Plymouth in May and arrived at Cádiz on 1 June. But no sooner had the troops landed than misunderstandings arose between them and the natives, and Ferdinand politely intimated that their services would not be required, as he had made a truce with the Moors in expectation of a war with France. Darcy, much disgusted, re-embarked on 17 June and returned home. On 3 August he had only reached Cape St. Vincent, where he was obliged to give out of his own money £20 to each of his captains for the victualling of his men; but apparently, this was repaid a year after his return home by the Spanish ambassador, who in a letter of Wolsey's dated 30 September is said to have 'dealt liberally with Lord Darcy in the matter of his soldiers'.
Soon after his return, on 20 October 1511, he was appointed warden both of the east and middle marches against Scotland, which office, however, he resigned in or before December, when Lord Dacre was appointed warden in his place. In 1512 and 1513 he wrote to the king and Wolsey important information about what was happening in Scotland and upon the borders. In the summer of 1513 he accompanied the king in the invasion of France, and was at the siege of Thérouanne. In January following he writes from his own house at Templehurst an interesting letter to Wolsey, in which he speaks of having recovered from recent sickness, says that his expeditions to Spain and France had cost him £4,000 in three years and a half, but declares his willingness to serve the king beyond sea in the following summer. He reminds Wolsey (whose growing influence at this time was marked by everyone) how they had been bedfellows at court and had freely spoken to each other about their own private affairs, and how Wolsey when abroad with the king in the preceding year regretted that Darcy had not been appointed marshal of the army at the beginning of the campaign.
Further public service In 1514/5 his son and heir apparent, Sir George Darcy, was included with him in some of the appointments he then held. In 1515 he gave up the captaincy of Berwick, and was succeeded by Sir Anthony Ughtred. He appears to have attended parliament in that year, and to have been present in London at the reception of Wolsey's cardinal's hat in November. In May 1516 he witnessed a decree in the Star Chamber. A year later he received Henry VIII's sister Margaret, the widow of James IV, at her entry into Yorkshire on her return to Scotland. In July 1518 he was one of those who met Cardinal Campeggio on his first mission to England, two miles out of London. A year later, a privy search having been ordered to be made throughout London and the neighbourhood for suspicious characters, Darcy and Sir John Nevill were appointed to conduct it in Stepney and the eastern suburbs. In 1519 he attended the feast of St. George on 28 and 29 May. In March 1520 he resigned his offices in Sheriff Hutton to his friend, Sir Robert Constable, whom he familiarly called his brother, in whose favour a new patent was granted by the king. His name occurs shortly afterwards in various lists of persons to accompany the king to the Field of the Cloth of Gold; but it is more than doubtful whether he went there, seeing that on 29 June, just after the interview, he and Lord Berners waited on three French gentlemen and conducted them to see the princess at Richmond, though their arrival the day before was only notified a few hours in advance by letters from Wolsey, who was still at Guisnes.
In 1523 he took an active part in the war against Scotland, making various raids on the borders with a retinue of 1,750 men. In the same year he obtained a principal share in the wardship of the son and heir of Lord Monteagle, which led to many complaints from one of the executors named Richard Bank. On 12 February 1525, he was again appointed to conduct a privy search at Stepney. The annual revenue of his lands in various counties is given in a contemporary document as £1,834 4s., and he was taxed for the first and second payment of the subsidy at no less than £1,050.
Wolsey’s downfall