Thomas Gage

Thomas Gage (c. 1603 – 1656) was an English Dominican friar, best known for his travel writing on New Spain and Central America during a sojourn there of over a decade. He closely observes colonial society and culture. On his return to England in 1637 he converted to Anglicanism. Early life Thomas Gage was the son of son of John Gage of Haling, Surrey, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Copley of Gatton in that county. Both of his parents were condemned to death The family were strong Catholics and intermarried with other Catholic families, including that of Sir Thomas More, the former Lord Chancellor. Gage was born into a long-established recusant family in Surrey: both his parents had been condemned to death and then reprieved for harbouring Catholic priests, while an uncle had been executed for his role in the Babington Plot to assassinate Elizabeth I in 1586. Robert Southwell, the Jesuit martyr, was a cousin. The family's Catholicism was practised behind closed doors. His three older brothers followed in the Catholic tradition. The eldest was the Royalist soldier Colonel Sir Henry Gage (1597–1645), who fought on the Continent for Catholic Spain and eventually in England for Charles I. According to J. Eric S. Thompson, Henry Gage "strove entirely to eradicate all remembrance of Thomas and his misdeeds from his mind." George was a diplomat and priest, who also disavowed "my graceless brother"; and William was a Jesuit.