Biography of Thomas Powys


                                     
                                     

                    Thomas Powys coats of arms                             The Powys family crest
                                                                                           (A Lion's Gamb Erect And Erased 
                                                                                             Gu., Holding A Sceptre In Bend 
                                                                                      Sinister Headed With A Fleur-De-Lis Or)

Birth                24 Sep 1719
Death             2 Apr 1767
General         Only son. Heir of his great-uncle Sir Littleton Powys.
Education      University of Oxford, matriculated 1736.
Father            Thomas Powys (1686-1720)

Mother           Katherine Ravenscroft (around1695-1721)


Spouse
Name            Henrietta Spence

Death            1771
Father           Thomas Spence (-1737)

Mother           Ann Barrett

  
Marriage       18 Nov 1740, Oxford Chapel, Vere St, London
  
Children        Thomas (1743-1800)

                        Littleton (1748-)

                        2 daughters
  

Notes for Thomas Powys


1719 born, the only child. He inherited his great uncle Sir Littleton's estate as well as his grandfather Sir Thomas's estate.

1721-32 featured, with his uncle Ambrose and Sir Littleton (presumably trustees of his estate) in various Chancery Proceedings: 1721, 2376/57; 1724, 1190/5; 1728, 2257/40; 1732, 25519/-

1734 Thurs 23 May, Thomas Powys had the misfortune to kill a child in driving over it, he being in a Hackney Coach box.

1736 Matriculated from Oxford University.

1740 married at Oxford Chapel, Vere St., London, to Henrietta, only daughter and heiress of Thos. Spence of Palgrave, Norfolk, Sgt. at Arms to House of Commons.

They had two sons and two daughters, including the first Baron Lilford.

1742 To 1750 made alterations to Lilford Hall, using famous architect Henry Flitcroft. Basically, Flitcroft removed the Jacobean interiors, and replaced them with a Georgian interior.

1767 died, his eldest son Thomas (later Baron Lilford) inheriting.


 
  Will

  Will of Thomas Powys of Lilford, Northamptonshire 15 April 1767 Public Records   Office B 11/928 


  Arms Blazon


The Powys Coat of arms


                                         

Or a lion’s leg razed set bendwise between two crosslets fitchy gules

  The arms grant appears in Foster’s “Grantees of Arms to the end of the 17th century” for his great grandfather, Thomas Powys of Henley.

The arms of the Lilford Powyses were, according to the Harleian Grant Book, granted to Thomas Powys of Henley in the late 17th century. These days these arms have supporters and a peer's helmet but the core arms and crest are (from the 1885 Burke's Peerage):

Arms: Or, a lion's gamb, erased, in bend dexter, between two cross-crosslets, Fitchée, in bend sinister, gules.

           

Crest: A bear's gamb, erased and erect, gules, holding a sceptre, in bend, sinister, headed with a fleur-de-lis, or.
 

 

 

Main Sources

 Tim Powys-Lybbe, Powys-Lybbe forbears (2009)

 Victoria County History (Lilford and Warmington)