Thomas Kytson the Elder

Sir Thomas Kitson (1485 – 11 September 1540) was a wealthy English merchant, Sheriff of London, and builder of Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. Family Thomas Kitson was the son of Robert Kitson (or Kytson) of Warton, Lancashire. His sister, Margaret Kitson, married John Washington, ancestor of George Washington. Career Kitson came to London as a youth, and was apprenticed to the London mercer and Merchant Adventurer, Richard Glasyer. He was admitted a freeman of the Mercers' Company in 1507, and served as Warden in 1525-26 and 1533-34 and as Master in 1534–35. He served as Sheriff of London in 1533–34, and was knighted on 30 May 1533 at the coronation of Anne Boleyn, (an honour not conferred on his co-sheriff, William Forman). In May 1534, he was associated with Rowland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, in taking oaths of fealty from priests and monks. Kitson had financial dealings with the Crown on a large scale. By 1509, his mercantile transactions were already extensive, and, by 1534-35, only ten other merchants exported cloth in larger quantities.