Thomas Fleming

Sir Thomas Fleming (April 15447 August 1613) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1581 and 1611. He was judge in the trial of Guy Fawkes following the Gunpowder Plot. He held several important offices, including Lord Chief Justice, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Solicitor General for England and Wales.

Early life Fleming was the son of John Fleming, a general trader and mercer of Newport on the Isle of Wight, and his wife Dorothy Harris. The family lived in a house just to the east of the entrance to the corn market from the High Street in Newport. The Fleming family line had strong historical connections to the Isle of Wight, with several mentions of the name cropping up in previous historical documents and books.

Career In 1581, Fleming was elected Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull after the existing members were dismissed as idle and impotent. He was elected MP for Winchester in 1584, and was re-elected in 1593. His progression within the legal profession was fast (possibly due to several personal connections with the monarch); he became a serjeant-at-law in 1594, and shortly afterwards became Recorder of London. Fleming was praised by his contemporaries, more particularly Coke, for his "great judgments, integrity and discretion". from the young Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton who inherited the title and estate at the age of eight. He was elected MP for Southampton in 1601,

Lord Chief Justice

In 1607, on the death of Sir John Popham, Fleming was elevated to the post of Lord Chief Justice of England. The convocation of Oxford University granted him the award of MA on 7 August 1613, which was the day he died. records the numerous successes of his career. it is ornamented with recumbent whole length figures of Fleming in his robes, with his official insignia, and his wife, with ruff and hood, and the singular waist favoured by ladies of the Tudor era. escutcheon = Gules on a chevron between three owls Argent an ermine spot Sable.