Thomas Waite

Thomas Waite, (died 1688 in Jersey) also known as Thomas Wayte was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the English Civil War, a Member of Parliament for Rutland, and one of the regicides of King Charles I. Waite was probably the son of Henry Waite of Wymondham, Leicestershire; but some royalist sources said he was the son of an alehouse keeper in Market Overton in Rutland. He was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1634. He was Sheriff of Rutland in 1641. Going into the Parliament army, he made such good use of his time, that he obtained a colonel's commission, and a seat in the Long Parliament. In 1643, he beat up the king's quarters near Burley House; at this time he was a colonel, and probably then, or immediately after, became, in consequence of it, governor of Burley-on-the-Hill, in Rutland. Waite wrote to Parliament in 1648, that he had fallen upon those who had made an insurrection at Stamford, Lincolnshire, and, at Woodcroft Castle, had killed Dr Hudson, who had commanded those forces, with some others, and taken many prisoners, but had dismissed the countrymen. The House replied with their thanks, and ordered that the general should send him a commission to try the prisoners by martial law. Soon afterwards he reported the defeat and capture of the Duke of Hamilton.