Sir Thomas Holte, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas Holte, 1st Baronet (c. 1571 – 14 December 1654) was the original owner of Aston Hall (a Jacobean country house in Birmingham), the man after whom the Holte End stand of Villa Park is named, and the possessor of quite a legendary temper.

He was born the son of Edward and Dorothy Holte of the Manor House, Duddeston, Warwickshire. The Holtes were a wealthy, land-owning family of some importance in Warwickshire. Their ancestors had owned land in the area for several hundred years and it had been considerably added to with the acquisition of monastic land during the Reformation. The Holtes served as High Sheriff of Warwickshire, Justices of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenants for the county. They had influential friends and relatives both locally and in London. His father died when Thomas was only 21, and as his successor Thomas did much to further the family fortunes.

In 1599 he himself served as High Sheriff of Warwickshire. He received a knighthood in 1603 from James I as the King made his way from Scotland to London to claim his throne. In 1612 Sir Thomas was able to buy the title of baronet (James I sold these new titles in order to raise money to quell trouble in Ireland). Sir Thomas now outranked all the local families and felt a grander home should be built to reflect both his wealth and status. The result of this desire was Aston Hall which he started building in 1618 and moved into in 1631. On the 18th October 1642 King Charles I stayed the night at Aston Hall on his way to London, on his route to London he came across the Parliamentary Forces and the Battle of Edgehill was fought on the 23rd October. In December 1643, during the English Civil War, Sir Holte requested the Hall be garrisoned by troops from Dudley Castle. Forty musketeers were sent by Colonel Leveson to protect Aston Hall but shortly after their arrival they had to defend the hall against a 1200-strong force of Parliamentary soldiers sent from Coventry and local militia from Birmingham.

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