Thomas Preston 1600-1679
Thomas PRESTON 1600-1679
Biographical Note
The Preston family were Lancashire landowners whose fortunes were built on the acquisition of Cartmel Priory estates in the 16th century. Thomas I was the son of George Preston; he graduated BA at Queen’s College, Oxford in 1619. Although his father was a Roman Catholic, Thomas was staunchly protestant (his epitaph asserts his willingness to rise against popery, even from the dead). He was a royalist commissioner of array in 1642 but submitted to parliamentary forces in 1643. After the Restoration he held a number of local offices, including deputy lieutenant for Lancashire, and he was MP for Lancashire 1665-79.
His son Thomas II graduated BA at St John’s College, Cambridge 1669. He was appointed commissioner for assessment in Lancashire, 1673; JP 1677; and served several times as a captain of militia in Lancashire. MP for Lancaster 1689-97. His daughter, who inherited the Holker estate, was said to have assets worth £30,000 when she married soon afterwards.
Books
Thomas II bequeathed “the books now at Cartmel town which were formerly my father’s” to the church of Cartmel, to enlarge the existing parish library there. A catalogue made in 1698 lists ca.300 titles, valued at £69, most of which survive today (the collection is now on deposit in Lancaster University Library). The books mostly date from 1525-1660 and were probably accumulated not only by Thomas I but also by earlier generations of the Preston family; they are largely theological, including many patristic texts and writings of 16th-century commentators.
Sources
- Christie, R. The old church and school libraries of Lancashire, 1885.
- Henning, B. The House of Commons 1660-1690, London, 1983.
- Perkin, M. A directory of the parochial libraries of the Church of England. London, 2004.
- Taylor, S. and D. Ramage, The ancient library in Cartmel Priory Church, 1959.