ANTROBUS, Thomas (c.1554-1611), of the Old Bailey, London and Heath House, Petersfield, Hants.

From a long-established yeoman family, Antrobus married the daughter of a wealthy London merchant of Cheshire origin, and became a successful attorney, with a large house in the Old Bailey.9 Antrobus, 2-3; CSP Dom. 1631-3, p. 415. In 1589 he was rated for the subsidy on £20 in fees, and by 1602 he had obtained a clerkship in the court of Common Pleas with the help of Sir Edward Coke*.10 Vis. London (Harl. Soc. cx), 160; HMC Hatfield, xiv. 222; xv. 368. Described as a ‘well-willer’ of the 5th earl of Rutland, he was probably already contemplating the purchase of a Hampshire estate when he was returned for Andover, perhaps with the backing of the lord lieutenant, the 3rd earl of Southampton, at the general election of 1604.11 HMC Rutland, i. 431. Later in that year he took out a grant of arms.12 Antrobus, 8-9; Grantees of Arms ed. W.H. Rylands (Harl. Soc. lxvi), 5. In the Commons, he was named early in the first session to committees to examine grievances raised by Sir Edward Montagu* (23 Mar. 1604); to investigate the Buckinghamshire election (27 Mar.), and to consider the resulting bill barring outlaws from Parliament (31 March).13 CJ, i. 151b, 156b, 160b. Given his office as clerk of the outlawries it is likely Antrobus was responsible for producing evidence to the Commons that Sir Francis Goodwin*, originally elected for Buckinghamshire but then rejected, had in fact never been outlawed as his opponents alleged.14 E. Lindquist, ‘The Case of Sir Francis Goodwin’, EHR, civ. 670-77; HMC Hatfield, xvi. 40; W. Notestein, House of Commons, 1604-10, p. 75. Antrobus’s subsequent committees included three others of concern to his office, those for bills to disable recusants from sitting in Parliament (26 Apr.), to give protection from surreptitious outlawry actions (27 Apr.), and to codify the bankruptcy law (14 May).15 CJ, i. 185b, 187b, 209a. He was also among those ordered to consider the bill to confirm the charter of Bridewell hospital (9 June).16 Ibid. 236a.

In January 1605 Antrobus bought the manor of Easton, near Winchester, and may have retreated there after his son Thomas was involved in a fatal brawl in London a year later.17 C66/1649, 1664; VCH Hants, iii. 118. His committees in the second session were for the bill against delays in executions (27 Mar. 1606) and the bill to relieve artisan skinners (2 May).18 CJ, i. 290b, 304a. In the third session he was again concerned with the outlawries bill (6 June 1607).19 Ibid. 379b. He bought Heath House in Petersfield in 1608, making it his principal residence.20 VCH Hants, iii. 118. In the fourth session his only appointment was to the committee for a bill to regulate warrants of attorney (29 Mar. 1610).21 CJ, i. 416b.

Before his death Antrobus donated seven law books to the library and £20 to the new chapel at Lincoln’s Inn, and early in 1611 he gave a communion cup and paten cover to Petersfield parish church.22 LI Black Bks. ii. 117, 143; VCH Hants, iii. 120. He died suddenly, perhaps of a heart attack, on 2 May and was buried in St. Martin’s, Ludgate.23 C142/321/94; HMC Rutland, i. 431; J. Stow, Survey (1633), p. 373. No will or administration has been found. His sons were all dead without male issue by 1622.24 C142/400/77; Antrobus, 97. He was the only member of his family to enter Parliament.