Thomas Northmore

Thomas Northmore (c.1643-1713) of Cleve in the parish of St Thomas, Exeter, in Devon was a Barrister-at-Law, a Master in Chancery and a Member of Parliament for Okehampton in Devon 1695–1708. Origins He was the 4th son of John Northmore (d.1671) of Well in the parish of South Tawton and of Okehampton and East Ash, all in Devon, an Attorney of the Court of King's Bench and Forester of Dartmoor, by his wife Joan Stronge (d.1686) a daughter of John Stronge of Torr Hill (alias Thornhill). Thomas's eldest brother was John Northmore (1635/6-1713) who in 1684 was appointed as the first town clerk of Okehampton. Thomas's younger brother was Jeffery Northmore (1643-1724) of Well, whose descendants by his second wife Grace Risdon continued at Cleve and Well. Jeffery's great grandson was Thomas Northmore (1766–1851), writer, inventor, geologist and antiquary. Career In 1705 he purchased the manor of Cleve in the parish of St Thomas, Exeter. In 1695 Northmore was elected as one of the two Members of Parliament for Okehampton. As a lawyer of the Inner Temple he acted as a business agent to various members of the Devonshire gentry, including Richard Coffin (1623-1700) of Portledge in the parish of Alwington, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1685, to whom he acted as Sheriff-Deputy. Following the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion, he supervised the Bloody Assizes of Judge Jeffreys, commencing on 25 August 1685. He was ordered by Jeffreys to arrange for the whipping of prisoners "only in the greater and more general markets", to economise on expenditure. He informed Coffin that about 400 rebels had been condemned at Taunton and 700 at Wells, of whom 100 were to be executed and the rest transported. He added: "another such year's trouble I will not undertake for £500". Marriages and children He married three times: Firstly to Anne Pridham (d. 8 April 1686), whose monument survives in St Thomas's Church, Exeter, by whom he had two daughters: Elizabeth Northmore (1680-1683), died in infancy; Anne Northmore (died1717), eldest surviving daughter and heiress, who married, in 1711, her cousin William Northmore (1690-1735), later Member of Parliament for Okehampton. She died 6 years later without children. Secondly in 1686/7 he married Elizabeth Andrew (died 1689), a daughter of Soloman Andrew of Lyme Regis in Dorset, Sheriff of Dorset in 1697. Without children. Thirdly in 1690 to Elizabeth St Aubyn (d.1735/6), a daughter of John St Aubyn of Clowance in Cornwall. Without children.