Egerton, Thomas, Viscount Brackley (1540 -1617)

Thomas Egerton was the illegitimate son of Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley in Cheshire, and Alice Sparke, a serving maid. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, of which he was entered as a commoner in 1566, aged 17. From there he went to Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar in 1572. He was Treasurer of his inn in 1588. Appointed Solicitor General by Queen Elizabeth 1581 1592, he was successively Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, Lord Keeper of the Rolls, and Lord Chancellor. He was knighted in 1584, created Baron Ellesmere 19 July 1603, and Viscount Brackley 7 November 1616. The Egerton books are now mostly in the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California.