Rector’s Reflections
Thursday 30th January 2025
Why Thomas More Matters - part 3
In yesterday’s reflections, we saw that Thomas was a Man with a Conscience. He was also a Man with a Family.
Thomas married twice. His first wife was Jane Colte. Thomas and Jane were blessed with four children: three daughters (Margaret, Elizabeth and Cecilia), and one son, John. John was the youngest in the family. Jane predeceased Thomas, and he later married Alice Middleton, who survived her husband.
Son John was born in 1510. It is possible that John had some form of learning disability, but both his father and the great scholar Erasmus thought highly of his accomplishments. John married Ann Cresacre, a wealthy Yorkshire heiress, in 1529.
Thomas’s eldest daughter Margaret was known for her gentleness and her learning. Her father had very much encouraged her in her studies. Thomas and Margaret seemed to have enjoyed a close relationship, and Thomas called her “Meg”. When she was about 20 years old, she married one William Roper, and ecclesiastical lawyer. Meg and William went on to have several children, and Meg herself died in 1547.
Thomas’s second daughter, Elizabeth, also married a William- in this case, it was William Daunce, son of Sir John Daunce. The date of their wedding is not certain, but it apparently took place in 1535, the same year as Thomas’s execution for High Treason. I wonder if the wedding was before or after the execution? It must have been a year of conflicting emotions for the family.
And finally, there was Cecilia, Thomas’s youngest daughter. Cecilia also got married, in her case to one Giles Heron. Cecilia and Giles lived near hackney, and they had at least one child, a son called Thomas. I wonder if Celicia and Giles named their son Thomas in honour of his grandfather? It seems likely.
Grandfather Thomas very much enjoyed family life. Yes, he was a successful lawyer and politician a scholar and a writer. But he found time to enjoy family life to the full. According to Thomas’s friend Erasmus, “there is not any man living so affectionate to his children as he, and he loveth his old wife as is she were a girl of fifteen”.
Thomas also devoted much care to the education of his children. Erasmus provides us with an interesting insight on this. Many parents wonder what to give their children to read – what sort of reading matter will be suitable? What might encourage children to get into the habit of reading? Erasmus tells us that Thomas recommended that his children read the histories of Livy, the great classical writer – presumably in the original Latin. I wonder what Thomas’ children thought about their father’s choice? Perhaps they were content in the knowledge that their father loved them, and so if they were set to read Livy, Livy it was going to be. Livy is certainly not without his charms.
Thomas also liked to have all his family around him- not just his own children, but the extended family as well. He was fortunate enough to afford to live in a big house in Chelsea, with a spacious garden and orchard. Thomas is pictured living “surrounded by his numerous family, including his wife, his son and his son’s wife, his three daughters and their husbands, with eleven grandchildren”. In addition to the family, there were servants, friends and plenty visitors. It must have been a wonderful experience to grow up as part of this extended family.
In the modern world, we can sometimes assume that living a Christian life is about something we do in church, in the workplace, or in the wider community. Thomas would remind us that it is also about how we live out our lives as members of a family. We need to try to live a Christian family life. Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different and not all of us have a large house in Chelsea with an income to match. But all of us can try our best to live out our Christian values in the context of our family lives. I’m not saying this is always an easy thing to do. It isn’t. But it’s one way in which we can try to live our lives to the glory of God.