LEIGH, Thomas (c.1512-71), of Caldwell, Beds. and Bermondsey, Surr.

Thomas Leigh’s origins are obscure. A pedigree, probably drawn up for him, and showing his descent from the landed Cheshire family, is almost certainly spurious. He seems to have begun his career in the service of Sir John Gostwick to whom, as first treasurer of the court of first fruits, he doubtless owed his appointment as one of the court’s auditors: he was to receive an annuity of £60 when the court was dissolved in 1554. He retained his connexion with the Gostwick family after Sir John’s death in 1545 and his early elections for Bedford, before he had established himself as a municipal figure, may have been furthered by its influence. He obtained a lease of the lands of Caldwell priory, much of which lay within the borough of Bedford, from William Gostwick, and sued out a pardon in 1559 as ‘of Caldwell alias of Bermondsey in Southwark’. He died on or about 14 Nov. 1571.1W. C. Richardson, Ct. Augmentations, 24n, 254 et passim; LP Hen. VIII, xxi; Beds. Hist. Rec. Soc. viii. 141, 164n; CPR, 1553-4, pp. 78, 399; 1558-60, p. 210; C142/160/11; Beds. Parish Regs. ed. Emmison, x. 26, 28, 55.