SCOT, Thomas III (c.1613-83), of Canterbury, Kent.

Scot was the scion of a cadet branch of a family which could trace its Kentish ancestry back to the reign of Edward IV, and which, by the early seventeenth century, could claim to be one of the pre-eminent gentry families in the county.17Vis. Kent 1619, 127-8. A kinsman, Reginald Scott†, represented New Romney in 1589, and a grandfather, Sir Thomas Scott†, sat as a knight of the shire on three occasions during Elizabeth’s reign. Among his parents’ generation, two uncles, Thomas† and Sir Edward† also sat at Westminster, the latter for Kent in 1626 and Hythe in 1628, as did two cousins, William†, and Thomas† (d. 1635), the radical puritan who was MP for Canterbury in 1624 and 1628.18HP Commons 1558-1603.

As the sixth son of Sir Thomas Scott of Scotshall, our MP’s father played a much less prominent role in county affairs, and was never elected to Parliament. Nevertheless, in 1610 he still made an advantageous match, to a daughter of Sir Thomas Honywood of Elmsted, and his heir received a gentleman’s education at Queen’s College, Oxford, and Gray’s Inn.19Vis. Kent 1663-8, 145; Scott, Mems. Fam. Scott, 223. Thomas Scot was not called to the bar, however, and he appears to have played no part in public life in his native county before 1639, during which period it was his cousin, namesake, and Canterbury neighbour who was named to local commissions.20C181/4, ff. 19, 38v; Canterbury St Alphege par. reg. Instead, he appears to have lived a retired life, following his marriage in 1636 into a branch of the Sussex Culpeper family.21Scott, Mems. Fam. Scott, 225.

Scot’s role in local affairs during the 1640s was also extremely slight: he was included in various commissions relating to sewers and assessments, but was neither a justice of the peace nor a member of the county committee. This low profile may have reflected the fact that he did not succeed to the family estate until sometime after 1653, the last known date at which his father was living.22CSP Ire. Adv. 22. Scot’s inactivity does not indicate that he was a closet royalist, however, and he later claimed to have been a supporter of the Congregationalist minister John Durant.23Canterbury Cathedral Archives, PRC17/75, f. 432. Even though it is not known whether this refers to Durant’s church formed in Canterbury in the 1640s, or his conventicle after the Restoration (and in any case Scot’s name does not appear in the extant records of the congregation), there is little doubt where his religious sympathies lay.24Canterbury Cathedral Archives, U37.

Scot only emerged as a figure of any substance within the county community during the 1650s, when he was appointed a Kent magistrate (the Thomas Scot who was named to the Home circuit oyer and terminer commission during the 1650s was probably Thomas Scot I). It is possible that his elevation to the bench reflected the influence of his brother-in-law Lambarde Godfrey*, one of the leading parliamentarians in Kent during the civil wars.25Scott, Mems. Fam. Scott, 225. Scot’s influence peaked in 1654, when he was not only named as a commissioner for scandalous ministers, but also returned to the first protectoral Parliament as one of the Members for Canterbury. Scot undoubtedly benefitted from being a local resident, since the borough displayed a determination to return local men throughout this period, and having been admitted as a freeman prior to the election, he was elected alongside a local merchant, Francis Butcher*.26Canterbury Cathedral Archives, A/C4, f. 370v; HMC 9th Rep. i. 165. Like many of Canterbury’s MPs, Scot made no recorded contribution to the House of Commons.

Scot remained active on local commissions throughout the 1650s, and there is little indication that he was considered to be in any way disaffected towards the protectorate. He was appointed to the militia commission during the restored Rump, but received no further local appointments after March 1660, returning instead to the anonymity which had characterised his life before 1640. Scot’s will, prepared in 1678, suggests continuing support for Congregational religion, since he made a bequest to the congregation led by John Durant, ‘with whom I have walked’. Scot died sometime between October 1681, when he made a codicil, and the following July, when his will was proved, although the place and date of his burial are unknown.27Canterbury Cathedral Archives, PRC17/75, f. 432.