Thomas Giffard (died 1560)

Sir Thomas Giffard (c.1491-27 May 1560) was a Tudor courtier, Staffordshire landowner and Member of the English Parliament.

Thomas Giffard' father was Sir John Giffard of Chillington Hall, near Brewood, Staffordshire. Sir John was a notable courtier and soldier, as well as one of the county's wealthiest landowners, and his family had lived at Chillington since the late 12th century. Thomas Gifard's mother was Jane Horde, daughter of Thomas Horde, the most important landowner in the Bridgnorth area. She died in childbirth in 1491, within a short time of his birth, although, as his exact birth date is not known, it is unclear whether it was while giving birth to him or a subsequent child.

Giffard received a brief legal education. Initially he was at the Strand Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery attached to the Middle Temple. On 11 November 1512 he was admitted to the Inner Temple.

His father remarried by 1515 to Elizabeth Gresley, widow of Sir John Montgomery of Cubley, Derbyshire. At the same time or a little later, Thomas Giffard married his step-mother's daughter, Dorothy, who was about two years younger than himself. As Dorothy was the heir to the Montgomery estates, Giffard was able to set himself up in modest comfort and security, independently of his father.

Thomas Giffard, despite his own longevity, was to outlive his father by only four years, so it was particularly fortunate for him to acquire property young. In his first wife's right, he was lord of Cubley itself and also Caverswall, a small manor to the north-east of Stafford, on the edge of the Staffordshire moorlands. The couple settled at Caverswall Castle, and this was to remain Giffard's main home, even after his wife's death, which was by 1529, as this was the year of his second marriage.

However, Giffard did not content himself with waiting to inherit the family estates. He was Escheator for Staffordshire in 1523–24. Thereafter he sought positions managing the estates of other major landowners. He became bailiff and custodian of Brewood Park, a major part of the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield's land in Brewood parish. For this he was receiving £5 0s. 8d. in 1535. The sum was not huge but for ambitious landed gentry such posts were a foot in the door: later, the Giffards would become not merely keepers but tenants of the park and able to profit more amply from managing it. Giffard also took on a similar post at the manor of Shenstone, Staffordshire.

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