Despite being the son of a man executed for treason by Henry VII, he was made a knight of the body-guard, a Privy Councillor, Vice Admiral of England and Lieutenant-General of the Army and Navy by Henry VIII in 1512. He was captain of the Mary Rose under his cousin, Sir Edward Howard, on a salary of 18d a day, in the same year. There were 200 soldiers from Norfolk on board the Mary Rose, possibly chosen by Sir Thomas himself, as he was a member of the Commission of Array for that county. He was knighted in Croyden Bay along with seven other captains and took part in the battle where the Regent was lost.
After leaving the Mary Rose, Sir Thomas Wyndham continued to have an important role in Henry's navy. In 1513 he was given the 400 ton ship, the John Hopton (also known as John Hopton's Ship, the Baptist Hopton and the John Baptist). This ship was bought by the King in 1512 for £1,000, and had a crew of about 300 men. Sir Thomas was also appointed "Treasurer of the King's army by the sea."
During 1514 he was given the command of the Trinity Sovereign and the as yet uncompleted Henry Grace a Dieu. The Trinity Sovereign was the huge carrack previously known as the Sovereign. Built around 1488, she was rated at around 800 to 1,000 tons, and was originally clinker built. She was possibly converted to carvel construction in the dry dock in Portsmouth around the time the Mary Rose was built.
The remains of a ship found in the Thames at Woolwich are thought to be those of the Sovereign - this showed clear evidence of conversion from clinker to carvel construction.
Sir Thomas was relieved of his post as treasurer and appointed vice admiral under Thomas, earl of Surrey in 1514. He performed well in the attack on the Normandy coast and was one of the commissioners that took part in the "Survey of the Navy" in August 1514, after peace was declared between France and England.
Married twice, Sir Thomas Wyndham was buried in the Lady Chapel of St Peter's Cathedral in Norwich, along with his two wives. Since then his tomb has been moved to the north side of the cathedral nave and all the brass ornamentation and the inscription have disappeared.
Sources:
- State Papers of Henry VIII
- Oppenheim, The Administration of the Royal Navy
- Glasgow, List of Ships in the Royal Navy from 1539 to 1588
- A.B.Wyndham & J.W.Moore, The Wyndham Family of England, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
Special thanks are due to J.M. Stark of Woodville, Texas, who sent me much of the information on Thomas Wyndham.
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