Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy - Further Public Service

Further Public Service

In 1514/5 his son and heir apparent, Sir George Darcy, 2nd Baron Darcy de Darcy, was included with him in some of the appointments he then held. In 1515 he gave up the captaincy of Berwick, and was succeeded by Sir Anthony Ughtred. He appears to have attended parliament in that year, and to have been present in London at the reception of Wolsey's cardinal's hat in November. In May 1516 he witnessed a decree in the Star Chamber. A year later he received Henry VIII's sister: Margaret, the widow of James IV, at her entry into Yorkshire on her return to Scotland. In July 1518 he was one of those who met Cardinal Campeggio on his first mission to England two miles out of London. A year later, a privy search having been ordered to be made throughout London and the neighbourhood for suspicious characters, Darcy and Sir John Nevill were appointed to conduct it in Stepney and the eastern suburbs. In 1519 he attended the feast of St. George on 28 and 29 May. In March 1520 he resigned his offices in Sheriff Hutton to his friend, Sir Robert Constable, whom he familiarly called his brother, in whose favour a new patent was granted by the king. His name occurs shortly afterwards in various lists of persons to accompany the king to the Field of the Cloth of Gold; but it is more than doubtful whether he went there, seeing that on 29 June, just after the interview, he and Lord Berners waited on three French gentlemen and conducted them to see the princess at Richmond, though their arrival the day before was only notified a few hours in advance by letters from Wolsey, who was still at Guisnes.

In 1523 he took an active part in the war against Scotland, making various raids on the borders with a retinue of 1,750 men. In the same year he obtained a principal share in the wardship of the son and heir of Lord Monteagle, which led to many complaints from one of the executors named Richard Bank. On 12 February 1525 he was again appointed to conduct a privy search at Stepney. The annual revenue of his lands in various counties is given in a contemporary document as £1,834 4s., and he was taxed for the first and second payment of the subsidy at no less than £1,050.

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