Thomas Cheek

Who was Thomas Cheek?

Sir Thomas Cheek or Cheke was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in every parliament between 1604 and 1653.

Cheek was the son of Sir Henry Cheek and his wife Frances Radclyffe daughter of Sir Humphrey Radclyffe of Elstow and sister of Edward Radclyffe, 6th Earl of Sussex. He was educated at York where his school fellows included Thomas Morton, afterwards Bishop of Durham, and Guy Fawkes. He lost his father while a minor as he wrote a Greek letter and Latin verses to the Lord Treasurer in 1586 in which he called himself an orphan, and spoke of his father being gone to the joys of heaven. In it he prays his Lordship, that as he was always a help and a sanctuary unto his father, so he would be to him. Cheek was knighted by King James I on 11 May 1603.

In 1604, Cheek was elected Member of Parliament for Harwich and was re-elected MP for Harwich in 1614 and in 1621. In 1624 he was elected MP for both Bere Alston and Essex, and chose to sit for Essex. He was MP for Bere Alston again in 1625 and was elected MP for Maldon in 1626. In 1628 he was elected MP for Colchester where he sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.