Thomas Barrie

Thomas Barrie
Died	1538 (479 years ago) Newbury, Berkshire
Cause of death	Acute stress reaction
Residence	Donnington Hospital Almshouses
Occupation	Almoner
Employer	Donnington Hospital
Home town	Newbury, Berkshire
Criminal charge	Spreading seditious rumours (foretelling monarch's death)
Criminal penalty	Day in pillory (with cropping)

Thomas Barrie (died 1538 in Newbury, Berkshire) was an English almoner who, in 1538 was found guilty of spreading rumours about the death of Henry VIII and was pilloried in the market square at Newbury. It was reported that he died from shock as a result of his punishment.

Barrie worked as an almsman at Donnington Hospital, living in one of the institution's almshouses. In 1538, he was accused of spreading seditious rumours about the death of Henry VIII. This was around the time of the King's excommunication from the Catholic Church; Henry did not die for a further 9 years. However, Barrie's rumours were supposedly well-sourced. This was irrelevant, however, as foretelling of the monarch's death was counted as treason. This was shown two years later in 1540, when Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury was charged of the crime, along with breaking the new Buggery Act, and was beheaded on Tower Hill.

Barrie's punishment, however, was to stand in the pillory on market day. The location of Newbury's pillory was the market square, where – for further ridicule – Barrie was sentenced to be cropped. This punishment (also given to John Bastwick 100 years later) involved having his ears nailed to the pillory's frame either side of the head hole. At the end of the trading day, he was released from the pillory by having his ears cut off.

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