Thomas Fanshawe, 1st Viscount Fanshawe

Thomas Fanshawe, 1st Viscount Fanshawe KB (1596 – 30 March 1665) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1661. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Following the Restoration he was raised to the peerage.

Background Fanshawe was the son of Sir Henry Fanshawe, of Ware Park, Hertfordshire and his wife Elizabeth Smythe, daughter of Thomas Smythe, of Ostenhanger Kent. His father was Remembrancer of the Exchequer.

Public life

Fanshawe succeeded as remembrancer of the exchequer on the death of his father in 1616, the post being held in trust for him until he was able to take up his duties in 1619. In 1621 he was elected Member of Parliament for Hertford. He was re-elected for Hertford in 1624 and 1625, and for Preston in 1626. At the coronation of Charles I, on 2 February 1626, he was made a Knight of the Bath. In 1628 he was re-elected MP for Hertford and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Fanshawe was re-elected MP for Hertford for the Short Parliament and was re-elected MP for Hertford for the Long Parliament in November 1640.