DYKE, Sir Thomas (1619-69), of Horeham, Waldron, Suss.

Dyke’s family, though widespread in the south east, was of little account before his father acquired the manor of Horeham, 15 miles from Seaford, by marriage. His own marriage and his knighthood on the eve of the Civil War suggest royalist sympathies, but he managed to avoid involvement either in the war or in Cavalier plotting during the Interregnum, devoting himself to the improvement of his iron works. He held no local office before the return of the secluded Members, but became the first of the family to enter Parliament when he was returned for Seaford at the general election of 1660. He was an inactive Member of the Convention, being named only to the committee of elections and privileges. But he had given enough support to the Court for his candidature in 1661 to be endorsed by the lord warden. He was moderately active in the first eight sessions of the Cavalier Parliament, with 39 committees. He was among those appointed to hear the petition against iron imports on 19 Feb. 1662; but his only committee of political significance was for the additional corporations bill in 1664. He died on 13 Dec. 1669, and was buried at Waldron, leaving to his son an encumbered estate.3Suss. Arch. Colls. xxxii. 30; Adm. 2/1745, f. 38.