Thomas Chaucer

Thomas Chaucer was an English official, landowner, and speaker of the House of Commons. He was the eldest son of the famous writer, Geoffrey Chaucer, by his wife Philippa the daughter of Sir Payne Roet and sister of Catherine Swnyford, mistress and afterwards wife of Prince John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399). Chaucer married Matilda, the second daughter and co-heiress of John Burghersh, Lord Kerdeston, the nephew of Henry Burghersh, Bishop of Lincoln, Treasurer and Chancellor of the Kingdom. Her dowry brought estates through southern England, central to which was the manor of Ewelme in Oxfordshire.

After looking into his family tree it is obvious that he was connected with the most powerful people of his time, and these connections brought him various rent-producing offices and made him rich. Besides having a good family tree, Chaucer was also enormously talented as a diplomat and negotiator, defusing row after row between the kings and the Commons. He sat as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire fourteen times between 1400 and 1431

When he died in 1434 he left an estate of about £20,000, around 0.62% of net national income of £3.2m at the time. In 2010 this would be worth £6.8bn.