Sir Thomas would have been raised and educated as befits a member of the “middling” gentry or knightly classes of the late 15^th century. Learning horsemanship, hunting skills the longbow and the various forms of combat, on horse and on foot. Aged seven, Sir Thomas would have moved to another household to continue his training. Nothing for certain is known about his early life, but he did serve in the great household of Humphery, Duke of Buckingham (The Dukes castle of Kimbolton is enfeoffed to Sir Thomas in 1459), a senior but respected member of Henry VI’s government, from 1456/7, when he was paid ten marks per annum. Sir Thomas may have transferred to the Duchess Anne’s household, maintaining his Stafford connections even after his employment by the King, acting as a Surveyor General for the dowager Duchess (from 1461) and also as executor of her will in 1480. Sir Thomas also acted as feoffee for Duke Henry.Sir Thomas appears in recorded documents in 1455, at the death of his mother, as being aged “24 or more”, later, in 1460, he and his lifelong associate, Sir Roger Tockotes, are appointed to a commission  to locate and arrest all adherents of the Duke of York in several southern counties. The Battle of Northampton saw the defeat of the Lancastrian Royal army by the Yorkists, which resulted in the deaths of the Duke of Buckingham and Sir Thomas’s stepfather; Sir William Percy.It was after the horrifying battle of Towton, fought on Palm Sunday 1461, that Sir Thomas’s career really takes off.

By the end of 1461 Sir Thomas was named as a esquire of the body to the new Yorkist King, Edward IV. He was appointed Steward of the Honour of Bolingbroke, Master of The Kings Horse, Steward of The Duchy of Lancaster lands and castles in the County of Lincolnshire, which included the constableship of Lincoln Castle. More offices, stewardships, land grants and pensions followed, and by Christmas 1462 he had been made a Knight by the King and served as a Privy councilor. Between 1462 and the end 0f 1463 Sir Thomas married the widow of Lord Botreux, Margaret Roos, a lady with impeccable Lancastrian family credentials. Her stepbrother being Henry, Duke of Somerset, and elder brother Thomas, 9^th Lord Roos.  

Ironically, Sir Thomas Burgh  found himself fighting both of them during the sieges of the Northumbrian castles during 1462 – 1464, both being executed after capture (the Duke of Somerset after being pardoned) at the battles of Hedgley Moor and Hexham in 1464. Between 1464, when the Burgh’s first child, Edward was born, to 1469, Sir Thomas slowly, but surely, became the Kings chief man in Lincolnshire. Sit Thomas held manors, lands, rents and tenements from Northumberland (his mothers par of her inheritance, shared with her sister, wife of Lord Gray of Condor) through Westmorland, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, down to his wife’s dower lands in Somerset. He was a rich man who had the backing of the King. The people of Lincolnshire (and beyond) soon started to resort to Sir Thomas for advice, legal help and support, and Sir Thomas served as Sheriff of Lincolnshire and Member of Parliament during this time. He acted to settle disputes in Grimsby during 1466, served on Royal commissions of Sewers, Array and Oyer & Terminer, was witness to hundreds of transactions, settlements and wills, as well as appointing his own supporters to many offices and posts within the Government of the County. The end of the 1460’s saw much unrest in England, and Sir Thomas found himself, not only fending off trouble at home, but also acting as an arbitrator between his cousin Henry, Lord Grey of Condor, and  the Vernon’s of Haddon Hall, over their dispute in Nottingham, which had resulted in rioting in he streets.

Sir Thomas’s own troubles started because of his rivalry with the oldest member of the Lincolnshire nobility, Richard, Lord Welles and Willoughby. Welles family could trace their descent back to 1066, but they had backed the wrong horse in 1462. At Towton Richard Welles father was slain and the family attained of treason by the Yorkist Government, but the attainder was reversed in 1464, after Richard had fought for Edward lV during the Northumbrian castle sieges. Between 1464 and 1469 Welles and Burgh clashed over land, status and honour. This came to a head after Sir Thomas clinched the purchase of Doddington Pygot (now Doddington Hall) from Dame Pygot, effectively “gazumping” Welles…In early 1470 the dispute came to a head when Lord Welles and his supporters attacked Gainsborough manor house, damaging it and driving off cattle, taking goods and fittings with them, back to Alford, the Burgh family were not in residence at the time. Having put up with Paston and Duke of Norfolks dispute, the Talbot and Berkley feud and treason of the Earl of Warwick, King Edward lV was in no mood to allow his authority to be challenged in Lincolnshire, especially as this dispute involved his Master of the Horse, Privy Councilor, and trusted friend; Sir Thomas Burgh.  

Sir Thomas Burgh attended the King at Westminster Palace as a Knight of the Body, working alongside the likes of William, Lord Hastings, Sir Thomas Montgomery, Sir Giles Daubney and Thomas, Lord Stanley. Credit Bridgeman Arts Library London.

The King swiftly summoned Welles too him and in doing so uncovered a further plot to destroy him, sponsored by his own brother, George, Duke of Clarence and, once again, the Earl of Warwick. The battle that followed, outside Stamford, at Losecote Field, saw the utter destruction of the rebel forces, led by Sir Robert Welles (son of Lord Welles) and the execution of Lord Welles, Sir Thomas’ deadly rival. Following King Edwards hurried removal to Burgundy in 1470, Sir Thomas weathered the restoration of Henry Vl, even receiving a pardon. In 1471,  however, when Edward lV arrived to reclaim his throne,

Sir Thomas was amongst the first to rally to his standard, and then fought for him at Barnet and Tewkesbury. Now fully established as the Kings Lieutenant in Lincolnshire, Sir Thomas reinforced his standing, serving as Sheriff and MP again, taking part in the French invasion of 1475, and arranging an excellent marriage  for his thirteen year old son, Edward, with Ann, Lady Cobham – a very rich heiress, in 1477, aged nine.

During the difficult and dangerous events of 1483, following Edward lV’s tragically early death, Sir Thomas was courted by Richard III, and, initially, he supported the new King, who elected him a Knight of the Garter. Sir Thomas was involved in the negotiations with the Duke of Brittanys envoys in an effort to secure the person of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond – negotiations which bought contacts with the Kings rebels, but ultimate failure for Richard III’s diplomacy. In 1485 the chroniclers are silent about Burgh involvement in the Battle of Bosworth. Suffice to say that very quickly Sir Thomas was confirmed as a Knight of the body and Privy Councillor to the new Tudor King, Henry Vll.

In 1487 King Henry created Sir Thomas, Baron Burgh of Gainsborough, a signal honour. Sadly, in 1488, Lady Margaret Burgh died, probably after a long illness, and she was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Gainsborough. Up till his death in 1496, Lord Thomas continued to serve the Tudor Government, appearing on many regular commissions, as he had since 1461. Lord Thomas was buried beside his wife, in the family vault and a magnificent monumental effigy erected, displaying their heraldry 'and the Garter he was so fond of' can you continue with this - Sadly the effigies have not survived the ravages of the Reformation, the English Civil War and time itself, the medieval church, re-built by Burgh himself, was pulled down and rebuilt, sweeping away the old and unwanted. An effigy, thought to be Lord Burgh's, was found in Marton churchyard and then lost again. Thomas and Margaret, however, still lie, lapped in lead, entombed below the modern church, forgotten and un mourned, until now that is! 

Sources

Lincolnshire Library Services ; Lincolnshire Archives ; Northumberland Record Office ; Nottinghamshire Archive ; Public Records Office, Kew ; British Library (Manuscripts) ; The Staffords, earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham 1394 – 1521 C.Rawcliffe; Duchy of Lancaster R.Somerville ; Somerset County Records Office ; Kent