THURBARNE, James (d.1688), of Sandwich, Kent.

Members of the Thurbarne family had been prominent within the cinque ports since the fourteenth century, and one ancestor was thought to have represented Hastings in the Parliament of 1366.16Boys, Sandwich, i. 351. Thurbane’s uncle Robert Thurbarne† was MP for New Romney in 1586, while his father James Thurbarne†, a Gray’s Inn lawyer, served as its MP in 1597-8; counsel to the cinque ports and to Sandwich, he served on various local commissions, including as a justice of the peace. He was re-elected to Parliament for New Romney in November 1620, but in early January his election was cancelled for considerations unknown, and he was never returned.17Cal. White and Black Bks. Cinque Ports, 343-441; E. Kent RO, Sa/AC7, f. 124v; Boys, Sandwich, ii. 779; HP Commons 1558-1603; HP Commons 1604-1629. Although a patentee of inn licences with his brother-in-law, the notorious Sir Giles Mompesson†, Thurbarne senior was probably inclined to godliness, and the witnesses to his will included the prominent puritan Richard Sibbes, then preacher at Gray’s Inn.18PROB11/152/625.

A younger son, James Thurbarne junior was sent to King’s School, Canterbury, where he was a scholar in 1622-3, but he did not follow his elder brother John to Gray’s Inn, remaining instead within the merchant community in Sandwich, provided for by his father with unspecified property.19Scholars of King’s School, Canterbury, 71; PROB11/152/625; G. Inn Admiss. 131. Thurbarne first emerged into public life in 1639, when he began to receive payments from the corporation, doubtless in relation to his service as Sandwich’s deputy to the general brotherhood of the cinque ports at New Romney, a role which he would fulfil for a further 40 years.20E. Kent RO, Sa/FAt39, pp. 3, 38; Cal. White and Black Bks. Cinque Ports, 472, 481, 485, 488, 492, 494, 498, 502-3, 505, 520, 521, 524, 527, 531, 533, 537. His decision in November 1640 to oppose Robert Jager in the election for the post of town clerk, and accuse his rival of obtaining it by bribery, may have reflected concern that Jager was insufficiently inclined towards further reformation.21E. Kent RO, Sa/AC7, ff. 377, 380; Gardiner, Sandwich, 252. Although unsuccessful, Thurbarne quickly joined the town hierarchy as a common councillor.22E. Kent RO, Sa/AC7, f. 379v. In November 1642 Jager was despatched to London and committed to Newgate for ‘misdemeanours against the Parliament’, and following a parliamentary order of 10 May 1643 Thurbarne was elected to replace him.23E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, ff. 3v, 16; Sa/ZB2/97; CJ iii. 79b; Gardiner, Sandwich, 256-7.

Although he was supportive of the parliamentarian cause, Thurbarne’s status was evidently insufficient to secure his nomination to local commissions. On the other hand, he made many trips in relation to corporation business and grew familiar with political machinations at Westminster.24E. Kent RO, Sa/FAt39, pp. 164-5, 284, 288. He was examined there in relation to the presence in Sandwich of royalists like Michael Hudson, who had attended the king on his flight from Oxford in June 1646.25HMC Portland, i. 368, 370. Furthermore, in the context of royalist uprisings on May 1648, Thurbarne delivered a detailed account to the Derby House Committee of the presence in the town of someone claiming to be the prince of Wales, but who was quickly declared ‘only an imposter’.26CJ vi. 568b; SP21/24, ff. 63-69; Harl. 286, f. 326.

He probably gained a more thorough understanding of workings at Westminster after the establishment of the commonwealth. In July 1649, Thurbarne was appointed ‘solicitor’ for the maintenance and preservation of the admiralty of the cinque ports, and instructed to consult with the lieutenant of Dover Castle, the cinque ports’ counsel, as well as local MPs, and ordered to petition Parliament for confirmation of charters.27Cal. White and Black Bks. Cinque Ports, 486-8. In January 1651, however, he was accused of having displayed royalist sympathies during the second civil war, by welcoming the supposed prince of Wales, and by delivering up the town’s magazine to a local royalist, Colonel Hardres. Such allegations were probably without foundation, however, and Thurbarne faced no formal charge, and remained in office in the town.28CCAM 1298; SP19/147, ff. 120, 124. Indeed, he continued to serve the corporation in London, not least by attending the Committee for Plundered Ministers* on the town’s behalf in February 1652, while in the aftermath of the Anglo-Dutch war he reported to the navy commissioners (Sept. 1653).29E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, f. 99v; CSP Dom. 1651-2, p. 591; 1653-4, p. 158; SP18/40, f. 194.

Thurbarne was rewarded for such service by being elected to the second protectorate Parliament in 1656, defeating the ‘court’ candidate, Colonel John Hewson*, in an election held on 26 August.30E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, ff. 131-2. Thurbarne was evidently perceived to be unfriendly towards Cromwellian rule, and was listed among those excluded by the council.31CJ vii. 425a. He retained the support of his townsmen, however, and was returned to Richard Cromwell’s* Parliament in 1659, alongside Richard Meredith*, the two men having defeated Sir Robert Hales and Colonel Nathaniel Rich*.32E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, f. 142. Although he could not be prevented from attending this assembly, Thurbarne played a minimal role in proceedings, and his only mention in the records of the turbulent session was as an additional member of the committee for the maintenance of ministers on 23 January.33CJ vii. 581b. His attitude towards the protectoral regime is difficult to fathom, but he emerged as a local militia captain during the restored Rump, and may have helped to ensure the loyalty of Sandwich for which the president of the council of state, Archibald Johnston*, Lord Wariston, gave him thanks in early September.34CSP Dom. 1659-60, pp. 95, 183.

By the late 1650s, Thurbarne was one of the most senior members of the civic community in Sandwich, and in December 1659 was made one of the 12 ‘barons’ or jurats.35E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, f. 144v. This helped to ensure his election to the Convention in April 1660. Despite a heavily contested poll, he defeated General William Penn†, the candidate proposed by George Monck*.36E. KentRO, Sa/AC8, f. 147. Removed from his civic positions in November 1660, Thurbarne was instantly re-elected.37E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, ff. 148, 150; Gardiner, Sandwich, 289. He also secured re-election to the Cavalier Parliament in March 1661, and was nominated by the borough as one of the canopy carriers at the king’s coronation.38E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, ff. 152v-53; Boys, Sandwich, i. 351; Gardiner, Sandwich, 289. His subsequent parliamentary career was unremarkable, however. He was later noted for his absence by the speaker, Edward Seymour†, and in 1679 stood down in favour of his son.39E. Kent RO, Sa/ZB2/124; HP Commons 1660-1690.

In contrast, Thurbarne proved remarkably zealous and resilient as a civic official. Although removed again from civic office under the terms of the Corporation Act in December 1662, he was controversially elected as mayor in 1665, through the efforts of many of the disenfranchised freemen.40E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, ff. 161v, 174; Gardiner, Sandwich, 289-90. Thereafter, he resumed his post as jurat and town clerk, to which in July 1668 he was elected for life, in the face of concerted opposition from some quarters.41E. KentRO, Sa/AC8, ff. 181, 185v, 191v; Cal. White and Black Bks. Cinque Ports, 526; Gardiner, Sandwich, 290. This was almost certainly provoked by Thurbarne’s links with the local nonconformist congregation, at which Presbyterians and Independents were reported to be ‘very numerous’, and where the preacher was Charles Nicholls.42SP29/272/26; PC2/62, p. 127; Turner, Orig. Records of Nonconformity, i. 14. Thurbarne was yet again dispossessed of his offices under the terms of the new charter in March 1684, probably as the result of the evidence of John Cason, one of those defeated in the election of 1660.43Eg. 2540, f. 35; CSP Dom. 1683-4, p. 155; E. Kent RO, Sa/AC8, f. 240; Gardiner, Sandwich, 294. He drew up his will in January 1685, and was buried at St Peter’s, Sandwich on 23 May 1688.44PROB11/400/180; PROB11/401/15; St Peter’s, Sandwich par. reg. His son John Thurbarne†, a Gray’s Inn lawyer and serjeant-at-law, represented Sandwich between 1679 and 1698.45HP Commons 1660-1690, ‘John Thurbane’.