Thomas Posthumous Hoby
Encyclopedia
Sir Thomas Posthumus Hoby (1566 – 30 December 1640), also sometimes spelt Hobie, Hobbie and Hobby, Posthumous and Postumus, was an English
gentleman
, Member of Parliament, and Justice of the Peace
.
A Puritan, he has been claimed as the inspiration for Shakespeare
's character Malvolio
in Twelfth Night.
(1530–1566), the English Ambassador to France in 1557, by his marriage to Elizabeth Cooke
, who was a daughter of the humanist
Sir Anthony Cooke
(1504–1576), one of four sisters notable for their learning. Hoby was born after his father's death, which led to his gaining the additional name of 'Posthumus'. His sisters Elizabeth and Anne died within a few days of each other in February 1571, while his elder brother was the diplomat and scholar Sir Edward Hoby
(1560–1617). Hoby was also a nephew of Sir Philip Hoby
, Master-General of the Ordnance
and an English ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire
.
Hoby was a very small boy and grew up to be nicknamed "the little knight" for his slightness and short stature. He was educated at Eton
and at Trinity College, Oxford
, matriculating in 1574 at the age of eight.
Also in 1574, some years after his father's death, Hoby's mother married secondly John, Lord Russell, the eldest surviving son of the Earl of Bedford
, and with him had three further children, Elizabeth, Anne and Francis. She was the sister-in-law of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
, Queen Elizabeth
's Secretary of State
, and Hoby was himself a first cousin of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
, who succeeded his father as the Queen's principal minister. As his mother pursued favours for herself and her friends, Hoby became a protégé of Burghley. Among his many other first cousins were the philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon
and the spy Anthony Bacon
.
In 1595, Hoby married Margaret Sidney (1571–1633), daughter and heiress of Arthur Dakins, a landed gentleman
of Linton
, Yorkshire
, already the widow of two men, of Walter Devereux, a younger brother of the Earl of Essex
, and of Thomas Sidney, a brother of the poet Philip Sidney
. Hoby had been an unsuccessful suitor four years earlier, after Margaret had lost her first husband. They set up home at Hackness
, Yorkshire, but had no children. Margaret Hoby is notable as a diarist.
Hoby was a Member
of the House of Commons of England
for Scarborough
in the Parliament of 1597–1598, the Parliament of 1604–1611, and the Addled Parliament
of 1614. He later served as the Member for Ripon
from 1621 to 1629 and as Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire
from 1621 to 1626.
A Puritan, in 1600 Hoby brought a legal action against William Eure (1579–1646) and several of his other neighbours, alleging that they had entered his house, taken drink, played cards, ridiculed Puritanism, and threatened to ravish his wife. In 1609 he alleged in the Star Chamber
that Sir Richard Cholmley had twice spoken contemptuously to him in the hope of provoking a duel
. One historian of the period has described Hoby as "that most overbearing, touchy, and resentful of Yorkshire magistrates
". It has been suggested that the character of Malvolio
in William Shakespeare
's Twelfth Night is based on Hoby and that his legal action of 1600 inspired Scene III of Act 2 of Twelfth Night, in which Malvolio is disturbed by drunken merry-making.
As a magistrate, Hoby has been described as "exceptionally conscientious".
On his mother's death in 1609 Hoby inherited from her "all my pasture
s of the manor
of Gyfford in Gloucestershire
", and in 1617 he inherited the estates of his brother, Sir Edward.
. By a Will dated 28 March 1640 he left his manor of Hackness to John Sydenham
of Brympton
in Somerset
, the son of his first cousin Alice Hoby, daughter of Sir William Hoby of Hayles, who was Hoby's uncle. He made further bequests to other members of the Sydenham family, and he also left each of his servants three years' wages. A memorial to him was erected in the church at Hackness in 1682 by Sir John Posthumous Sydenham (1643–1696), the son of Hoby's principal heir and a knight of the shire
for Somerset
. There is also a more impressive memorial to him in All Saints' Church, Bisham, where a painted statue of Hoby is among a family group in the Hoby chapel.
Although Hoby had no children, his brother Edward's natural son Peregrine Hoby
(1602–1679) was the father of Sir Edward Hoby, 1st Baronet (1634–1675), whose baronetcy
continued until the fifth Baronet died in 1766.
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
gentleman
Gentleman
The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
, Member of Parliament, and Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
.
A Puritan, he has been claimed as the inspiration for Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's character Malvolio
Malvolio
Malvolio is the steward of Olivia's household in William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will.-Style:Malvolio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan...
in Twelfth Night.
Life
Hoby was the younger son of Sir Thomas HobyThomas Hoby
Sir Thomas Hoby was an English diplomat and translator. He was born in 1530, the second son of William Hoby of Leominster, Herefordshire, by his second wife, Katherine, daughter of John Forden. He matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge in 1546...
(1530–1566), the English Ambassador to France in 1557, by his marriage to Elizabeth Cooke
Elizabeth Hoby
Elizabeth, Lady Hoby was an English noblewoman...
, who was a daughter of the humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
Sir Anthony Cooke
Anthony Cooke
Sir Anthony Cooke was an eminent English humanist, scholar and tutor to Edward VI, England's first ruler to be raised as a Protestant.-Background:...
(1504–1576), one of four sisters notable for their learning. Hoby was born after his father's death, which led to his gaining the additional name of 'Posthumus'. His sisters Elizabeth and Anne died within a few days of each other in February 1571, while his elder brother was the diplomat and scholar Sir Edward Hoby
Edward Hoby
Sir Edward Hoby was a diplomat, Member of Parliament, scholar, and soldier in England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I...
(1560–1617). Hoby was also a nephew of Sir Philip Hoby
Philip Hoby
Sir Philip Hoby was a 16th century English Ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire and Flanders....
, Master-General of the Ordnance
Master-General of the Ordnance
The Master-General of the Ordnance was a very senior British military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished.-Responsibilities:...
and an English ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
Hoby was a very small boy and grew up to be nicknamed "the little knight" for his slightness and short stature. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and at Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
, matriculating in 1574 at the age of eight.
Also in 1574, some years after his father's death, Hoby's mother married secondly John, Lord Russell, the eldest surviving son of the Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG was an English nobleman, soldier and politician and godfather to Sir. Francis Drake.-Early life:...
, and with him had three further children, Elizabeth, Anne and Francis. She was the sister-in-law of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, 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...
's Secretary of State
Secretary of State (England)
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary....
, and Hoby was himself a first cousin of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
, who succeeded his father as the Queen's principal minister. As his mother pursued favours for herself and her friends, Hoby became a protégé of Burghley. Among his many other first cousins were the philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
and the spy Anthony Bacon
Anthony Bacon (1558–1601)
Anthony Bacon was a member of the powerful English Bacon family who was also a spy during the Elizabethan era.-Early years, 1558-1580:...
.
Landed gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
of Linton
Linton, West Yorkshire
Linton is an affluent village south west of Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England and in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough.The village is situated between Wetherby and Sicklinghall, on the River Wharfe. Collingham lies immediately to the south on the other side of the river...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, already the widow of two men, of Walter Devereux, a younger brother of 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...
, and of Thomas Sidney, a brother of the poet 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...
. Hoby had been an unsuccessful suitor four years earlier, after Margaret had lost her first husband. They set up home at Hackness
Hackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarboroughdistrict of the county of North Yorkshire, England.Hackness is mentioned as the site of a double monastery or nunnery by Bede, writing in the early 8th century. The church of Saint Mary has fragments of a high cross dating from the late 8th...
, Yorkshire, but had no children. Margaret Hoby is notable as a diarist.
Hoby was a Member
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,...
of the House of Commons of England
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
for Scarborough
Scarborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Scarborough was the name of a constituency in Yorkshire, electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons, at two periods. From 1295 until 1918 it was a parliamentary borough consisting only of the town of Scarborough, electing two MPs until 1885 and one from 1885 until 1918...
in the Parliament of 1597–1598, the Parliament of 1604–1611, and the Addled Parliament
Addled Parliament
The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James I of England , which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614...
of 1614. He later served as the Member for Ripon
Ripon (UK Parliament constituency)
Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.-History:...
from 1621 to 1629 and as Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire
Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire
This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire.* Sir Leonard Beckwith bef. 1544 – aft. 1547* Sir Henry Gates bef...
from 1621 to 1626.
A Puritan, in 1600 Hoby brought a legal action against William Eure (1579–1646) and several of his other neighbours, alleging that they had entered his house, taken drink, played cards, ridiculed Puritanism, and threatened to ravish his wife. In 1609 he alleged in the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
that Sir Richard Cholmley had twice spoken contemptuously to him in the hope of provoking a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
. One historian of the period has described Hoby as "that most overbearing, touchy, and resentful of Yorkshire magistrates
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
". It has been suggested that the character of Malvolio
Malvolio
Malvolio is the steward of Olivia's household in William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will.-Style:Malvolio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan...
in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Twelfth Night is based on Hoby and that his legal action of 1600 inspired Scene III of Act 2 of Twelfth Night, in which Malvolio is disturbed by drunken merry-making.
As a magistrate, Hoby has been described as "exceptionally conscientious".
On his mother's death in 1609 Hoby inherited from her "all my pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
s of the manor
Manor
-Land tenure:*Manor, an estate in land of the mediaeval era in England*Manorialism, a system of land tenure and organization of the rural economy and society in parts of medieval Europe based on the manor*Manor house, the principal house of a manor...
of Gyfford in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
", and in 1617 he inherited the estates of his brother, Sir Edward.
Death and memorials
Hoby died on 30 December 1640 and was entombed with the remains of his wife in the Hackness parish churchParish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
. By a Will dated 28 March 1640 he left his manor of Hackness to John Sydenham
Sydenham Baronets
The Sydenham Baronetcy, of Brimpton in the County of Somerset, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 28 July 1641 for John Sydenham of Brimpton, who the previous year had inherited the estates of his cousin Thomas Posthumous Hoby....
of Brympton
Brympton
Brympton is a civil parish and ward in Somerset, UK. The parish is situated on the north-west edge of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish/ward has a population of 4,956...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, the son of his first cousin Alice Hoby, daughter of Sir William Hoby of Hayles, who was Hoby's uncle. He made further bequests to other members of the Sydenham family, and he also left each of his servants three years' wages. A memorial to him was erected in the church at Hackness in 1682 by Sir John Posthumous Sydenham (1643–1696), the son of Hoby's principal heir and a knight of the shire
Knights of the Shire
From the creation of the Parliament of England in mediaeval times until 1826 each county of England and Wales sent two Knights of the Shire as members of Parliament to represent the interests of the county, when the number of knights from Yorkshire was increased to four...
for Somerset
Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)
Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...
. There is also a more impressive memorial to him in All Saints' Church, Bisham, where a painted statue of Hoby is among a family group in the Hoby chapel.
Although Hoby had no children, his brother Edward's natural son Peregrine Hoby
Peregrine Hoby
Peregrine Hoby , was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1648....
(1602–1679) was the father of Sir Edward Hoby, 1st Baronet (1634–1675), whose baronetcy
Hoby Baronets
The Hoby Baronetcy, of Bisham in the County of Berkshire, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 12 July 1666 for Edward Hoby, the son of Peregrine Hoby , during his father's lifetime....
continued until the fifth Baronet died in 1766.