Thomas Jermyn (died 1645)

Jermyn was the son of Sir Robert Jermyn of Rushbrooke. He was admitted at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1585. He was knighted at Rouen, France, in 1591 and became a Knight of the Bath in 1603.[1]

In 1604 Jermyn was elected as a Member of Parliament for Andover in Hampshire, which seat he held until 1611. In 1614 he was elected as an MP for the prestigious county seat of Suffolk. He was elected for Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in the elections in 1621, 1623, 1625, 1626 and 1628. In 1629 King Charles I decided to rule for eleven years without parliament.[2]

In April 1640 Jermyn was re-elected for Bury St Edmunds in the Short Parliament.[3] He became Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk in 1640, and served as Comptroller of the Royal Household between 1639 and 1641.[1] He fought as a Royalist during the Civil War, became disabled through injury in 1644 and died in the following year aged 72.

Catherine Killigrew, aged 35, wife of Sir Thomas Jermyn. 1614 Portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561–1636), Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut

Jermyn married Catherine Killigrew (born 1579), a daughter of Sir William Killigrew (died 1622)[1] of Hanworth, Middlesex, a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I and to King James I, whom he served as Groom of the Privy Chamber. Her portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561–1636) survives in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut, USA. By his wife he had issue including:

• Thomas Jermyn (died 1659), eldest surviving son, MP for Bury St Edmunds;
• Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans.

• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. "Jermyn, Sir Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37601. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)