DORSET, Thomas

It seems likely that this MP was related to his namesake, the Thomas Dorset† who sat in Parliament for Lyme 11 times between 1360 and 1384, and to John Dorset, who represented the borough in four Parliaments in Richard II’s reign and served as mayor in 1397-8.1 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 792. Perhaps he was John’s son. Yet while John is recorded owning property worth at least £2 a year in Lyme and its neighbourhood, and was one of the four men from the borough who went to the shire court to attest the election indentures for Lyme for the Parliaments of 1407 and 1413 (May),2 C219/10/4, 11/2 (not mentioned in John’s biography). of Thomas himself there is no trace, save for his appearance as a witness to a deed at Nether Lyme in October 1396.3 Harl. Ch. 48 G 9. Indeed, this may not have been the same man, as 30 years were to elapse before Thomas’s election to Parliament.