Thomas Owen

Thomas Owen (died 21 December 1598) was an English judge and politician during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. He served as a Member of Parliament and held notable judicial positions of his time.

Career Owen served as a Member of Parliament and gained prominence in the legal system, eventually rising to high judicial office. His contributions were significant during Elizabethan England, particularly in law and parliamentary matters.

Early life Owen was first son of Richard Owen, merchant of Shrewsbury by Mary, daughter of Thomas Otley of Salop. He was educated at Oxford University, (variously stated to have been at Christ Church or Broadgates Hall), gaining a B.A. in 1559. He entered Lincoln's Inn to study law in 1562. He also bought or leased estates in Montgomeryshire and Essex.

His son, Sir Roger Owen, succeeded to Thomas Owen's Condover and other estates.

In Legend

The folklorist Charlotte Burne recorded a local legend, told by a person in the parish of Condover in 1881 – noting it to be "utterly at variance with facts", which she meticulously explained- wherein Owen, here the "clever" "son of the ostler of the Lion inn", had risen through education into the legal profession. In studying past trials, he came to suspect that John Viam, a servant at Condover Hall, had been falsely accused of murdering the lord of the manor, Knevett, in the reign of Henry VIII. Per the story, Knevett's son was the real murderer. Owen, "a special favourite with Queen Elizabeth", was given permission for a new trial, and in successfully condemning the murderous younger lord to death, Owen was rewarded with the Condover estate.

As Burne observes, however, Owen was the son of a wool merchant of old Welsh stock, and foremost amongst the discrepancies involved in the story is that Condover Hall was built for Owen's son Roger, fifty years after the death of Henry VIII. The only Knevett (or Knyvett) associated with Condover was a Sir Henry, who sold the manor soon after it was granted to him by Henry VIII.