Thomas Knyvett (or Knyvet) was the son of Sir Henry Knyvett of Charlton, Wiltshire, and was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, before entering the service of the Crown. He became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth, and later the Queen’s Keeper of the Palace.
Elizabeth granted Knyvett premises in Westminster, rent free for life, and later James I extended this arrangement so that Knyvett’s heirs could keep the property for 60 years after his death. The house was large and impressive, part brick and part timbered, and it probably had carved panelling inside the principal rooms. It was close to what was later to be called St James’s Park where Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth, could stroll in the fresh air. When the family eventually left, the site was acquired by a speculative builder called George Downing. The house he built on the site still stands and is currently the home of Rishi Sunak and his family.
Sir Thomas Knyvett entered our history books in his capacity as a Justice of the Peace for Westminster on the night of November 4/5, 1605. Shortly before midnight a group of men hammered on the door of Knyvet House and showed the magistrate a letter. It had been sent to Lord Monteagle and warned him to stay away from Parliament.
Simply transcribed extracts say: “My lord, out of the love I have for some of your friends, I want to make sure you are safe. Because of this I would advise you to not attend this sitting of parliament because God and man have agreed to punish the wickedness of this time. Do not think this is a joke, go to your estate in the country where you will be safe, because although there is no sign of any problem yet, this parliament will receive a terrible blow, but they will not see who it is that hurts them. . . .” [The estate may have been Eastbury Manor House at Barking]
Knyvett lead Lord Monteagle and others down to search the cellars under the House of Lords and discovered Guy Fawkes with his barrels of gunpowder. It was to Knyvett that Fawkes made his confession. Soon after this he was appointed a Privy Councillor, Member of the Council of Queen Anne, and Warden of the Mint. On July 4, 1607 he became Baron Knyvett of Escrick, Yorkshire, and continued to take part in court life.
But what has this to do with our locality? When Thomas Knyvett was about 52 years old he married Elizabeth on July 21, 1597 as her second husband. She was the widow of Richard Warren of Claybury and she had inherited the Claybury Estate at Woodford Bridge. The house at that time was a large gabled building, probably timber-framed rather than made of brick. (The house we can see today was built in 1791.) Queen Elizabeth I visited Claybury in 1597 which must have been around the time of their marriage so perhaps the Queen wanted to congratulate her much respected courtier and meet his bride.
Sir Thomas Knyvett died on July 27, 1622, just after their silver wedding anniversary, and his wife survived him by just a few weeks. His will makes it clear that he owed his success to his “deceased mother and my living and loving wife, by whose estate (though much wasted by me) I have been maintained… ”
- Georgina Green has been involved with local history in Redbridge, Waltham Forest and the Epping Forest area for 40 years and is the author of several local history books. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2021.
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