Sir Thomas Coningsby was an English soldier and Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, notable for his diary of military action in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1591.

Birth

Thomas Coningsby was the son and heir of Humphrey Coningsby, of Hampton Court, Herefordshire

Hampton Court, Herefordshire

Hampton Court is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is located in the village of Hope under Dinmore, near Leominster.- History :...

, by Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Inglefield, judge of the common pleas

Court of Common Pleas (England)

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...

. His father was gentleman-treasurer to Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

.

Early life and military service

Coningsby visited Italy with Sir Philip Sidney

Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...

 in 1573, and he was intimate with Sidney until Sir Philip's death, although their friendship was severely strained on their Italian journey by an unfounded charge of robbery brought by Sidney against Coningsby. Coningsby went to Normandy in attendance on the Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...

 in 1591, and took part in the siege of Rouen, fighting against the forces of the league. He acted as muster-master to the English detachment, was in frequent intercourse with Henry of Navarre

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

 before Rouen, and was knighted by Essex on 8 October 1591. Coningsby was High Sheriff of Herefordshire

High Sheriff of Herefordshire

The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions are now...

 in 1582 and 1598 and knight of the shire (MP) for Herefordshire

Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

The county constituency of Herefordshire, in the West Midlands of England bordering on Wales, was abolished when the county was divided for parliamentary purposes in 1885...

 in 1593, 1597 and 1601.

Later life

On 12 Nov. 1617 he joined the council of Wales under the presidency of William, Lord Compton

William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton

William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG , known as 2nd Baron Compton from 1589 to 1618, was an English peer.Northampton was the son of Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton, and Frances Hastings. His maternal grandparents were Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole...

. In 1614 Coningsby founded a hospital in the suburbs of Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

 for superannuated soldiers and servants called 'Coningsby's Company of Old Servitors', and died on 30 May 1625.

He married Philippa

Philippa Coningsby

Philippa Congsby married to Sir Thomas Coningsby and had 11 children.- References :...

, second daughter of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton, near Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, and Sir Philip Sidney's cousin, by whom he had six sons and three daughters. All his sons except one, Fitzwilliam

Fitzwilliam Coningsby

Fitzwilliam Coningsby was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1621 and in 1640. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....

, died before him. Fitzwilliam married Cicely, daughter of Henry, seventh Lord Abergavenny

Henry Nevill, 9th Baron Bergavenny

Sir Henry Nevill, de facto 9th Baron Bergavenny was an English Peer and MP.The son of Edward Nevill, 8th Baron Bergavenny, he succeeded to the Barony upon the death of his father in 1622....

, and their son, Humphrey

Humphrey Coningsby

Humphrey Coningsby was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War....

, was father of Thomas, 1st Earl Coningsby

Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby

Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat in the House of Lords-Early life:...

. Of his daughters, Katharine married Francis Smallman of Kinnersley Castle, Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

; Elizabeth married Sir Humphrey Baskerville of Eardisley Castle

Eardisley Castle

Eardisley Castle was in the village of Eardisley in Herefordshire, England, some 11 km north-east of Hay-on-Wye .This was an 11th century motte and bailey castle with a moat around the bailey filled by a stream...

, Herefordshire, and Anne married Sir Richard Tracy of Hatfield

Hatfield, Hertfordshire

Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...

, Hertfordshire.

Diary

Coningsby is the author of a diary of the action of the English troops in France in 1591. It proceeds day by day through two periods, 13 August to 6 September, and 3 October to 24 December, when it abruptly terminates. The original manuscript is among the Harleian Manuscripts at the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

. It was first printed and carefully edited by J. G. Nichols in the first volume of the Camden Society's

Camden Society

The Camden Society, named after the English antiquary and historian William Camden, was founded in 1838 in London to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books....

Miscellanies (1847). Internal evidence alone gives the clue to the authorship.