Thomas Holyoake was an English royalist soldier, physician, clergyman and lexicographer.

Life

He was the only son of Francis Holyoake

Francis Holyoake

Francis Holyoake was a lexicographer, born at Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire, in 1567.About 1582 he studied as a commoner at Queen’s College, Oxford, though it does not appear that he took a degree. Afterwards he taught school, first at Oxford, and then in Warwickshire...

 and Judith. Born at Stoneythorpe, Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, he attended Coventry grammar school; entered Queen’s College, Oxford, in Michaelmas

Michaelmas

Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...

 term 1632 (B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 1636; M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 1639) (Wood, Fasti Oxon. ed. Bliss, i. 487, 508); and became chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 to his college.

He was chosen captain of a foot company. Consisting chiefly of undergraduates at Oxford University at the beginning of the civil war

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, in which capacity, doing good service to the royal cause, he was created D.D. by Charles I's express desire. After the surrender of Oxford, Holyoake obtains (in 1647) a license from the university to practise medicine. He practised successfully in Warwickshire until the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, when Thomas, lord Leigh, preferred him to the rectory of Whitnash

Whitnash

Whitnash is a small town contiguous with both Royal Leamington Spa and Warwick in Warwickshire, England. In 2001, it had a population of 7,798.-History:...

, near Warwick. He was installed also a prebendary of the collegiate church of Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

. In 1674 Robert, lord Brooke, presented him to the donative of Breamore

Breamore

Breamore is a village and civil parish near Fordingbridge in Hampshire, England. The toponym is pronounced "Bremmer", not "Bree-moor" as might be supposed. The parish includes a notable Elizabethan country house, Breamore House, built with an E-shaped ground plan...

 in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, where he died on 10 June 1675. He was buried near his father in the church of St. Mary at Warwick. By his wife Anne he had twelve children, including Henry Holyoake

Henry Holyoake

-Life:Holyoake was probably born in Warwickshire in 1657, the son of Thomas Holyoake and Anne his wife, and the grandson of Francis Holyoake. He was elected to a choristership at Magdalen College, Oxford, which he resigned in 1676, having matriculated from that college on 12 March 1674. He became...

.

Works

Francis Holyoake, his father, had compiled a ‘Dictionarie Etymologocall,’ which was annexed to ‘Riders Dictionarie correct,’ 2 pts., London, 1617. The work was reissued in 1626, with additions by N. Gray, and in 1640,. But Holyoake had meanwhile contributed so much to the work that a fourth edition was published as almost his own, with the title ‘Dictionarium Etymologicum Latinum,’ &c., 3 pts., London, 1633. The sixth edition is stated to be ‘compositum et absolutum a Francisco de Sacra Quercu,’ 1648. Thomas made great additions to the work, but, dying before he could complete the edition, it was published by Thomas's son Charles, as ‘A large Dictionary in three parts,’ London 1677–1676.