Thomas Helwys - Early Life

Early Life

Not a great deal of detail is known about Thomas Helwys’ early life. He was the second son of Edmund and Margaret Helwys who were descendants of an old Norman family which had significant holdings in Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham, and York. Edmund had sold his land in Lincolnshire and Northhamptonshire and had taken a lease on Broxtowe Hall in Bilborough parish. In 1590 when his father died, Thomas Helwys assumed control of the estate, but in 1593, left the care of the estate in the hands of his father's friends and began studies in law at Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London.

Helwys' family was on the rise in London. Geoffrey Helwys, his uncle, was a successful merchant, an alderman and the sheriff of London. His cousin, Gervase, was knighted by King James before becoming lieutenant of the Tower of London. After completing his studies at Gray’s Inn in 1593, Thomas himself spent some time in the capital.

Thomas married Joan Ashmore at St, Martin’s Church, Bilborough, in 1595. They had seven children over the next twelve years and lived at Broxtowe Hall. During this time, the Helwys' home became a haven for early Puritans within the Church of England and it is likely that Thomas contributed financially to their mission. At some point, Thomas Helwys developed a close bond with dissenter John Smyth and he and his wife became committed members of Smyth’s separatist congregation in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. The sixty or seventy Separatists in Gainsborough were allowed to meet in secret in Gainsborough Old Hall by the Hall's sympathetic owner Sir William Hickman. (By late 1606 a second Separatist church, the Scrooby congregation, had been established at Scrooby Manor led by John Robinson).