Thomas, Lord Wentworth

Thomas. 1st Lord Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk, is buried in the chapel of St John the Evangelist in Westminster Abbey. He seems never to have had a monument or gravestone as nothing is recorded in the Abbey guidebook published in 1600. He was a son of Sir Richard Wentworth and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir James Tyrrell, and was born in 1501. He was a member of Princess Mary Tudor's household and took part in the Duke of Suffolk's expedition to France and was knighted in 1523. Member of Parliament for Suffolk he was created Lord Wentworth and signed the letter to the Pope concerning Henry VIII's divorce in 1530 and was one of the peers who tried Queen Anne Boleyn. He was also a Privy Councillor and Lord Chamberlain of the Household. He leased Cheyneygates, part of the Abbot's house at Westminster. By his wife Mary Fortescue he had sixteen children and his son Thomas succeeded to the title. He died on 3rd March 1551 in the King's Palace at Westminster and was buried on 7th March.