Giles Thorndon

Giles Thorndon (c. 1388 – August, 1477) was an official of the English Crown in the fifteenth century, who was noted for his long and loyal service to the House of Lancaster and for his troubled career as Lord Treasurer of Ireland.

He was born in Newcastle upon Tyne shortly before 1390. Little is known of his family; there is no evidence that he was related to Roger Thornton, the long serving Mayor of Newcastle.

By his own account he entered the household of the future King Henry V in 1404, when he must still have been in his teens. He continued to serve the Prince after he became King, and remained in the household of Henry VI. For several years he was the Royal sewer i.e. the senior household official with responsibility for overseeing the kitchens. From these household duties he was promoted to senior Crown service; in 1434 he became constable of Dublin Castle and Wicklow Castle, and for a time was also entrusted with the wardenship of Cardigan Castle. In 1437 he became Lord Treasurer of Ireland.

Fifteenth-century Irish politics was dominated for almost thirty years by the feud between James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and his faction on the one side , and Richard Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, backed by his brother John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and their faction on the other side. As the feud grew more bitter, almost all Irish Crown officials were forced to declare themselves as supporters of either the Butler or the Talbot factions.

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