Sir Thomas Edmonds was a diplomat and politician.

Edmonds was the fifth son of another Thomas Edmonds, who was the Customer of the ports of Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 and Fowey

Fowey

Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...

, and of Joan daughter of Anthony Delbere of Sherborne

Sherborne

Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...

 in Dorset. He is said to have been introduced at court by another namesake, Sir Thomas Edmonds, Comptroller of the household

Comptroller of the Household

The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...

 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...

, where he received the rudiments of a political education from Sir Francis Walsingham

Francis Walsingham

Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

.

In 1592, the queen appointed Edmonds as her agent in France in the affairs of the king of Navarre and the Protestants

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...

, in which he continued until 1596, when the queen appointed him her secretary of the French tongue. He then returned to Paris in 1597. In 1597 he was elected as Member of Parliament for Chippenham

Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency)

Chippenham is a parliamentary constituency, abolished in 1983 but recreated in 2010, and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

, but the seat was occupied by a proxy, as he was abroad. In 1600, he was the queen's resident at Brussels, and one of the commissioners for the peace conference at Boulogne-sur-Mer

Boulogne-sur-Mer

-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....

. In 1601, he was appointed a clerk of the Privy Council

Privy Council of England

The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...

, but returned to Paris as minister soon after. He was elected MP for Liskeard

Liskeard (UK Parliament constituency)

Liskeard was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.- History :...

 in 1601.

James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 knighted him in 1603. In 1604, he was sent as ambassador to the Emperor. Soon after, and while abroad, he was also granted reversion to the office of Clerk of the Crown and elected as 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,...

 for Wilton

Wilton (UK Parliament constituency)

Wilton was the name of a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1295 to 1707, then in the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of the Parliament of the...

. He returned to Brussels in 1609 and was then from 1610 ambassador to France for seven years.

In 1616, he was appointed Comptroller

Comptroller of the Household

The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...

 and in 1618 Treasurer of the Royal Household

Treasurer of the Household

The position of Treasurer of the Household is theoretically held by a household official of the British monarch, under control of the Lord Steward's Department, but is, in fact, a political office held by one of the government's Deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons...

, a post that he held until his death. He was elected as Member for Bewdley

Bewdley (UK Parliament constituency)

Bewdley was the name of a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1605 until 1950. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough in Worcestershire, represented by one Member of Parliament; the name was then transferred to a county constituency from 1885 until...

 in 1614, and served again in the following Parliament. He was elected for Chichester

Chichester (UK Parliament constituency)

Chichester is a county constituency in West Sussex, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 in February 1624, for Oxford University

Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)

Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System:...

 in Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

's first Parliament, and for Penrhyn

Penryn (UK Parliament constituency)

Penryn was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1553 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to until 1832...

 in 1628. His final diplomatic service was to return as a special ambassador to France in 1629 to ratify a treaty.

On his return he retired to the manor of Albyns in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, which had been inherited by his wife Magdalen, daughter and coheir of Sir John Wood, Clerk of the Signet

Clerk of the Signet

The Clerks of the Signet were English officials who played an intermediate role in the passage of letters patent through the seals. For most of the history of the position, four clerks were in office simultaneously....

. He employed Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...

 to build him a mansion there. He had one son, Sir Henry Edmonds, K.B. and three daughters, of whom Isabella married Henry, Lord De La Warr and Frances married Robert Mildmay, an ancestor of the Lords FitzWalter

Baron FitzWalter

Baron FitzWalter is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1295 for Robert FitzWalter. The title was created by writ, which means that it can descend through both male and female lines. His great-grandson, the fourth Baron, was an Admiral of the Fleet. His grandson, the...

.