Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond
Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, spent part of his life as a man Parliament had formally declared a traitor. Statutes passed at Westminster under Edward IV named him and his brothers as such and stripped the family's standing. Those statutes were not abrogated until November 1485, in the first Parliament summoned by the newly crowned Henry VII, when Thomas Butler was restored. He had been born in 1426 and would live until the 3rd of August 1515. In the decades between, an Irish peer with no formal claim on the English Parliament ended up sitting in it anyway. He did so at the personal invitation of a king who called him friend. He built one of the great fortunes of the realm and earned a nickname for it. Two daughters born to his first marriage would carry the Butler name forward. Their marriages tied the family to households far closer to the English crown than Ormond himself ever stood. What turned an attainted family back into one of England's wealthiest? And how far did that inheritance travel after he was gone?
Joan de Beauchamp, first wife of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, died on the 3rd or the 5th of August 1430. Thomas was her third son, behind two elder brothers who would each hold the earldom before him. Those brothers were James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, and John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond. Two sisters completed the family. Elizabeth Butler married John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury. Anne Butler was contracted to marry Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond. She died on the 4th of January 1435, and the marriage appears never to have taken place. Neither James nor John left a legitimate heir, and when both had died, the earldom eventually passed to their younger brother Thomas.
In November 1488, a summons called him into the English Parliament under the name Thomas Ormond de Rochford chevaler. As an Irish peer he technically belonged only in the Irish Parliament, but Henry VII, a personal friend, invited him anyway. By then he already held two titles, 8th Earl of Carrick and 7th Earl of Ormond. He was afterwards sworn of the Privy Council of England. In 1509 he was appointed Lord Chamberlain to Catherine of Aragon, a post he held until 1512. That mix of Irish and English standing was unusual for a peer of his kind, built as much on land as on titles alone.
Contemporaries called him The Wool Earl, a nickname earned by the scale of his wealth. His lands stretched across the Irish counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, with further holdings in north County Dublin. In England alone he owned 72 manors, enough to make him one of the richest subjects in the whole realm. Wealth on that scale needed careful management, handled for years by a trusted advisor inside the Church.
Walter Champfleur, Abbot of St Mary's Abbey in Dublin, managed the Earl's affairs for years, right up until his death in 1498 or 1499. He collected Ormond's rents, stored money on his behalf, and kept him abreast of political developments, especially inside Parliament. In return, Champfleur asked favours for his own relations. On a more personal note, he once wrote to ask after the health of the Countess, Lora. She was at the time expecting their only daughter. After Champfleur died, the Earl's relationship with St Mary's Abbey soured. His successor, Abbot John Orum, refused to hand over money he had admitted was Ormond's own property, held at the Abbey only for safekeeping. Long before Lora, Ormond's first marriage had already produced two daughters who would carry the Butler name into unexpected places.
In 1445, Ormond married his first wife, Anne Hankford, who lived from 1431 to 1485. She was daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard Hankford, who lived from around 1397 to 1431 and held Annery in Monkleigh, Devon. Hankford held the feudal barony of Bampton through his own marriage. He was grandson of Sir William Hankford, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, through Sir William's second wife, Anne Montagu, who died in 1457. Anne Montagu was herself a daughter of John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. Anne Hankford bore Ormond two daughters, and since he had no sons by her, both became co-heiresses to his English estates. Lady Anne Butler, born in 1455, inherited Annery through her mother's line. She married first Ambrose Cressacre, without issue, then Sir James St Leger, who died in 1509. By St Leger she had two sons, George and James St Leger, and she herself died on the 5th of June 1533. Lady Margaret Butler, born around 1454, married Sir William Boleyn and had six sons and five daughters with him. Among them was Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, father of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife. Margaret Butler died in 1539. Before November 1496, Ormond married again, this time to Lora Berkeley, who lived from 1454 to 1501. Lora had already been widowed twice. Her first husband was John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy, by whom she had two sons and two daughters. Her second husband was Sir Thomas Montgomery of Faulkbourne, Essex, who died on the 2nd of January 1495. Lora was daughter of Edward Berkeley of Beverston Castle, Gloucestershire, who died in March 1506. Her mother was Christian Holt, who died in 1468 and was the second daughter and coheir of Richard Holt. Ormond's marriage to Lora produced one daughter, Elizabeth Butler, who died in 1510. With three daughters to his name but no son, what became of the Ormond title itself was a story still to unfold.
Ormond died on the 3rd of August 1515. He was buried in the Mercers' Chapel of the Hospital of St Thomas of Acre, in the City of London. Because he left no son to succeed him, the barony that had supposedly been created for him in 1488 fell into abeyance. The Earldom itself passed to a distant cousin, Piers Butler, who lived from 1467 to 1539. He became the new 8th Earl of Ormond. Piers was grandson of Ormond's first cousin, Sir Edmund MacRichard Butler of Polestown in County Kilkenny, who lived from 1420 to 1464. Edmund MacRichard was himself grandson of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, of Gowran Castle in Ireland, who lived from around 1359 to 1405. Alongside the old Ormond title, Piers also carried a freshly created one, the first Earldom of Ossory.
Common questions
Who was Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond?
Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, was an Irish peer who lived from 1426 to the 3rd of August 1515. He was the third son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and rose to become one of the wealthiest men in the realm, known as The Wool Earl.
Why was Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, restored by Parliament?
Thomas Butler and his brothers had been declared traitors under statutes passed at Westminster during the reign of Edward IV. Those statutes were abrogated in November 1485 by the first Parliament of Henry VII, restoring Thomas Butler's standing.
Why was Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, called The Wool Earl?
Thomas Butler was known as The Wool Earl because of his enormous wealth. He held major lands in the Irish counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, further lands in north County Dublin, and 72 manors in England, making him one of the richest subjects in the realm.
How was Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, connected to Anne Boleyn?
Thomas Butler's daughter, Lady Margaret Butler, married Sir William Boleyn. Their son, Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, was the father of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife.
What positions did Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, hold at court?
Thomas Butler was summoned to the English Parliament in November 1488 as a personal friend of Henry VII. He was also sworn of the Privy Council of England and appointed Lord Chamberlain to Catherine of Aragon in 1509, a post he held until 1512.
Who inherited the earldom of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond?
Thomas Butler died on the 3rd of August 1515 without a son to succeed him, so the barony created for him in 1488 fell into abeyance. The Earldom of Ormond passed to his distant cousin, Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond and 1st Earl of Ossory.