Biography

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This biography is a brief outline of Sir Thomas Glemham's life.

We are based in York, but have members from further a field, notably the north east, Northumberland and the whole of the Yorkshires, an area that traditionally fought for the king.

Our regiment carries the name of Sir Thomas Glemham, one of the first men to totally give service to the king, who was appointed Governor of York around 1642. Grandson of the Earl of Dorset, Sir Thomas Glemham gets his name from Little Glemham in Suffolk, which was his home. Glemham Hall is still there today although it is now a private residence.

Sir Thomas fought in the Prince Bishop's Wars, notably fighting at Newburn and Bolden Hills near Newcastle; at that time he was a Lieutenant Colonel.

Arms at the beginning of the Civil War came from the Trayned Bands' armouries and private collections, but later they were imported in the north through Hull, which had a large store of arms before the Civil War left over from the Scottish wars. There was much manoeuvring from both sides to appoint their own governors; Stafford as Lord Lieutenant engineered the appointment of Sir Thomas Glemham as Governor of Hull in September 1640, but he was removed by Parliament in July 1641 and was replaced by Sir John Hotham. His refusal to admit the king to Hull in April 1642 left the king without much needed arms.

In December 1643 Lord Ferdinado Fairfax advanced to Tadcaster (ten miles south west of York) with 300 foot and 40 horse, where he had been sent to guard the crossing over the River Wharfe at Wetherby. Glemham had 800 York men and with them he launched a night attack on Fairfax. Fairfax only just held Glemham off, who then returned to York.

Four months later, on April 22 1644, Glemham was still in York holding the city for the king as it was beseiged by Parliamentarian and Scottish troops. He didn't fight at the Battle of Marston Moor, being one of the three regiments left to hold York, and along with Sir John Belasyse and Sir Henry Slingsby they had about 1,000 men.

After the Battle of Marston Moor, Glemham shut the city gates. The gates at Micklegate Bar were crammed with survivors of the recent battles, most of them wounded. Prince Rupert, one of the commanders of the Royalist Army, only just got into the city. He had a disagreement with the Marquis of Newcastle blaming him for losing the battle, and so Rupert took off with as many infantry as he could rally and left the City of York.

On July 16th 1644 Glemham surrendered York after a siege lasting 86 days. He held the city together against enormous odds, receiving honourable terms for the city at its fall.

When Sir Thomas marched out of York he took his garrison with him retaining full honours. He marched to Carlisle where he stayed as governor until July 1645, taking with him the remains of the army. Newcastle had left York for Scarborough, taking a boat to Hamburg and leaving the rest of his army to Glemham, who was by then Colonel General of the North. By this time there was little left for Glemham to command but gotg most of them to Carlisle to fight on for the King. When he again surrendered after a long siege at Carlisle, and once again he was given full honours when he left.
Glemham was reputedly the man who taught his soldiers to eat cats, dogs and rats...
The story followed him from Carlisle to Oxford.

Glemham became governer of Oxford due to the fact that the king had forbidden Rupert to even approach him after the Fall of Bristol, but Rupert arrived at Newark in September of 1646 along with his brother and a handful of friends: he demanded a hearing before the council of war.

The council found him blameless for the fall of Bristol but the king would not have him back, instead he removed his friend Will Legge from governorship of Oxford and replaced him with Sir Thomas Glemham.

Glemham became governor of Oxford. He was ready to defend Oxford to the last man, if it meant they had to eat the last dog or rat! Again it ended with a siege, this time the Earl of Dorset was with him in the Siege of Oxford. Glemham was ordered by the Privy Council to surrender on the June 24th, 1646, after which he was imprisoned but it was not long before he was released.

He fought in the Second Civil War and died whilst in battle in Scotland in 1648.

Our regiment proudly bears his name, and we had our colours blessed in the family church of Sir Thomas at Little Glemham in a very moving ceremony. He was a brave man who stood by the Divine Right of His Majesty King Charles.

Soo Todd

Little Glemham Hall in Suffolk still stands but is privately owned it can be hired for weddings and functions. The Glemham's sold the Hall in 1708-09 to Sir Dudley North.

Sir Thomas Glemham - York 1644

After Marston Moor - A Military Assessment

Prior to the Battle of Marston Moor on the 2nd July, 1644, Sir Thomas Glemham, Governor of the City of York, was left in sole command of the city where he had at his disposal, according to Sir Henry Slingsby:

"Sir Thomas Glemhams's Regiment of Foot, my own Regiment of Foot, The Cittie Regiment and that of Sir John Belasye."

In addition to the above, and not mentioned by Slingsby, would have been:

• The Garrison of Clifford's Tower under the command of Sir Francis Cobb, together with his lieutenant colonel, major and captains and a garrison of about 200 men, all of them probably local to York.
• The Regiment of Foot of Henry Waite, The Cittie Garrison. A little known regiment, not at all mentioned in contemporary accounts of the Siege of York. Waite was a professional soldier of the old school who had seen service on the continent under Count Mansfield. He was certainly not a North Countryman as a letter to London in 1642, concerning the raising of an army in the north by the Earl of Cumberland states: "That it [the army] shall be directed by Glemham, Wayst and Mein, strangers to us." It is a probability that Henry Waite was a Roman Catholic and came from Gloucestershire, although he was not a stranger to Yorkshire in the sense that in 1638/9 he commanded the Trained Bands of Hull. In 1639 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Kentish Foot, at that time in Yorkshire to take part in the Scottish War. By 1640 he was Lieutenant Colonel in Sir Henry Wentworth's Regiment and, in 1642, whilst Charles I was in York, he was appointed as Muster Master of Yorkshire. He stated that he was also confirmed in the post of Sub Governor of York to Sir Thomas Glemham. How large his Cittie Garrison was is something of a mystery, but from the evidence taken from a list of "Indigent Officers" in 1663, we find that the following officers claimed to have served under him, viz:

The Regiment seems to have been small, probably in the region of 200 strong, all Yorkshire men recruited locally, especially in the North Riding. Nearly all his officers were North Riding men with the exception of two, who were probably from Lancashire.

Henry Waite's Regiment never left the confines of the city, unlike those of Sir Thomas Glemham and Sir Henry Slingsby, who occasionally took to the field with the King's Army in the north.

There can be no doubt that Henry Waite commanded the Cittie Garrison and that his rank was, at the least, lieutenant colonel and, in all probability he was colonel in his own right. If the former, then he must be the elusive Lieutenant Colonel to Sir Thomas Glemham. In 1645 he can be found, with his wife and family, employed as an "Advisor" in the garrison at Chester.

After the Battle of Marston Moor (2 July, 1644) Prince Rupert had forced as many of his foot who had managed to gain access to the city to accompany him to Richmond, and there join the King's army. Before the Marquis of Newcastle left for Holland he appointed Sir THomas Glemham Commander in Chief of all the King's army in the north, this was in addition to Glemham's original post as Governor of York. Just how many men he had at his command can only be conjecture, but if the accounts of the day are to be taken as gospel, there could not be more than between five and seven hunderd:

• A letter from A Trustie gentleman in the Scottish Army beseiging York to another Noble Lord of the Kingdom of Scotland states "we the understand from certain intelligencers from the town this day they do not have above 500 soldiers in the town besides the Trained Bands and Burghers;"
• Stockdale "There was a small force in the city;"
• Full Relation: "Not above 500 fighting men in the towne;"
• True Relation: "Not above 1000 mercinaries in the town besides the Cittie Regiments."

After a successful negotiation for the rendition of the city, Sir Thomas Glemham gathered those troops who wished to leave the city together and with them "marched out with full honours of war, flags flying, drums beating, bullet and powder, and match lighted".

Sir Henry Slingsby states in his diary: "We marched out with these colours, namely Sir Thomas Glemham with nine colours but not above 170-190 men, One Collonel Tillier's, One of Sir John Girlington's and one of mine with such of the Prince's men left in York".

This statement is somewhat confusing, especially that of Sir Thomas Glemham's nine colours, and calls for some explanation:

• "Such of the Prince's men that were left in York"... These were the remnants of Prince Rupert's Army who eventually gained entrance to York and were unwilling to march with the Prince to join the King's Army in the South;
• "One of Collonel Tillier's..." Tillier commanded a brigade of foot at Marston Moor and his regiment were part of Rupert's Army. Men from Colonel Tillier's Regiment, like those of Prince Ruport, had eventually gained entry into York after the battle. It is highly likely that these men were few in number but had managed to bring back one of their colours;
• "One of Sir John Girlington's..." Colonel Sir John Girlington commanded regiments of horse and foot and were part of the Marquis of Newcastle's Northern Army. Again, some would have eventually gained entrance to York but this may not have been as difficult for them as it was for Prince Rupert's and Henry Tillier's men because they were part of Newcastle's force.
• "One of mine..." (Slingsby's). These are obviously from the Cittie Regiment and were in the city for the duration of the battle. The remaining colours of this regiment, if any, would have been destroyed before the surrender and Sir Henry would have only his own colours with him.
• "Sir Thomas Glemham with Nine Colours..." This statement in itself poses a problem. It is highly improbably that these nine colours belonged exclusively to Sir Thomas Glemham's own regiment, if so, there would have been the following: Colonel's colour, Lieutenant Colonel's colour, Major's colour, and a Captain's colour. Added to these would be colours of Henry Waite and those of Sir Francis Cobb, both of whom were under the direct command of Sir Thomas Glemham.
• The 170-190 men would have been from the above and were in all probability men who were not domiciled in York or the North Riding. It may also be that Lieutenant Colonel Mynne was also within the City at the march out and some of his colours may have been present.

After reaching Skipton Castle the survivors from York would have split. Those who were anxious to go south would have made their own way, especially those of Tillier's and Rupert's , Henry Waite being amongst them.

Sir Henry Slingsby and Sir John Girlington went into Westmorland, to carry on the fight there. The remainder went with Sir Thomas Glemham to Carlisle and amongst them would have been those listed by Isaac Tullie.

After the surrender of Carlisle, Sir Thomas Glemham's Regiment went south with him to Oxford where they formed the King's Lifeguard.

Just how many companies of foot there were in the regiment at any one time can only be conjecture. It is probable that most of the time there were only three, with the addition of another two for a short period of time.

The permanent companies would be:

• Sir Thomas Glemham's own company - in the absence of a lieutenant colonel this would be commanded by the major, Lewis Lewins of Heslington, near York.
• Captain Robert Gosnold, who appears to have been with Glemham all through the campaign.
• Captain William Hodgeson of County Durham.

Taken from an article written by Terry Cooper, Sir Thomas Glemham's Regiment for Glemham's Newsletter, edited by Trish Day.