Sutton

THOMAS SUTTON (1532 - 1611)

Originally from Lincoln, Sutton travelled abroad before serving with the garrison at Berwick in 1569. He was active in suppressing the rising of the Northern Earls in 1570 and was appointed master and surveyor of the ordnance in the northern parts of the realm. He took part in the siege of Edinburgh Castle in 1573.

John Aubrey in his celebrated Brief Lives calls him 'a lusty, healthy, handsome fellowe' and states that he made a great deal of money through the will of an 'ancient' brewer, with whose young wife he had a liaison. He also made vast sums through the ownership of coalmines in Durham and, later, having settled in London in 1580, his marriage in 1582 to Elizabeth Dudley. He was 'much upon mortgages' as Aubrey says, and was estimated the richest commoner in England, the equivalent of a multi-millionaire. He was generous to charity and founded the Charterhouse school and hospital in 1611, where he was buried.

Sutton encouraged several people to cherish hopes of being his heir, and this, coupled with his great wealth made him the model for Ben Jonson's famous play Volpone.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
THOMAS SUTTON (1532 - 1611) Originally from Lincoln, Sutton travelled abroad before serving with the garrison at Berwick in 1569. He was active in suppressing the rising of the Northern Earls in 1570 and was appointed master and surveyor of the ordnance in the northern parts of the realm. He took part in the siege of Edinburgh Castle in 1573. John Aubrey in his celebrated Brief Lives calls him 'a lusty, healthy, handsome fellowe' and states that he made a great deal of money through the will of an 'ancient' brewer, with whose young wife he had a liaison. He also made vast sums through the ownership of coalmines in Durham and, later, having settled in London in 1580, his marriage in 1582 to Elizabeth Dudley. He was 'much upon mortgages' as Aubrey says, and was estimated the richest commoner in England, the equivalent of a multi-millionaire. He was generous to charity and founded the Charterhouse school and hospital in 1611, where he was buried. Sutton encouraged several people to cherish hopes of being his heir, and this, coupled with his great wealth made him the model for Ben Jonson's famous play Volpone.
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