Thomas Knyvett, 5th Baron Berners

Thomas Knyvett (1596–1658) was an English JP and Royalist during the English Civil War

Thomas Knyvett (III) was born in the early summer of 1596 and soon baptized on June 10. Thomas was born to his father Sir Thomas Knyvett (II), who served as a Member of Parliament for Norfolk in 1593, and his mother Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey. Sir Thomas II died in September 1605, leaving the nine year old Thomas III as sole heir to his grandfather Sir Thomas Knyvett I's estate. Elizabeth's father, Nathaniel Bacon, also had no surviving sons, making Elizabeth coheir to her father's estate, along with the young Thomas III.

Thomas III matriculated to Emmanuel College, Cambridge as a Fellow-Commoner in November 1612, where he received his B.A. two years later in 1614. Thomas came into most of his property four year later at the death of his grandfather Sir Thomas I in February 1618, and the younger Thomas spent nearly a decade in various lawsuits over his inheritance. After leaving Cambridge, Thomas worked as a lawyer in Norfolk and London, while maintaining his various estates. He inherited and kept an extensive library, which several antiquarians utilized over the years, including William Le Neve and John Spelman.

He met his future wife Katherine Burgh sometime after leaving Cambridge, and the two married on February 28, 1620. They had six children together; Elizabeth (1620–1621); Thomas (April – November 1622); John (1623–1673); Thomas (b. 1625); Nathaniel (d. February 1626); and Muriel (b. May 1627). Thomas appears as a loving father and husband in his surviving correspondence. He referred to all of his children with nicknames - Buss for Elizabeth, Muss for Muriel, Tom for Thomas, and Jack for John. Thomas wrote most of his letters while in London or Norwich on business, and he often expressed a longing for his wife, along with affectionate titles, closings and playful teasing.

Thomas gained several minor bureaucratic positions within the Royal government over the next few decades. Knyvett was likely a Groom to Prince Charles in 1624, and intended to follow Charles and the Duke of Buckingham to Spain to aid in negotiating the Spanish Match. His trip was stayed in late April 1623, and after the failure of the match, the trip was canceled altogether. After Charles I's ascension in 1625, Knyvett was summoned to become a member of the Knights of the Bath. The honor would have cost Knyvett over £500, so he refused the honor and attempted to revive his de jure title of the Baron Berners. The title had been dormant since his ancestor John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners died in 1533. Thomas would maintain his claim to the Barony for several years, but never succeed in obtaining it. In 1632, Knyvett received the post of the Porter of the Mint, a post that had been held by his grandfather Sir Thomas. Four years later, Thomas is recorded as serving as a Justice of the Peace for the county Norfolk.

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