Thomas Knolles

Thomas Knolles was a member of the Grocers’ Company. Through his commercial success Knolles achieved high social status and position in London. He served in a number of public offices and was mayor of London for two terms, 1399-1400, 1410-1411, and a Member of Parliament in 1416.

In 1399, Knolles and his wife obtained papal indults allowing them to make use of a portable altar and enjoy plenary remission of sins as often as they pleased, concessions which reflect the grocer’s growing social status. Besides his investments in trade, Knolles also provided generous loans to the Crown. He is known to have lent £100 to Richard II (r. 1377 – 1399) at some point before 1397, but Henry IV (r. 1399 - 1413) borrowed heavily from him, often on the security of the London customs of which Knolles was himself a collector from 1400 to 1401. Although it is impossible to calculate how much money he advanced altogether, the King was rarely less than £100 in his debt at any one time. Knolles also lent money to Henry V (r. 1413 – 1422) and to Henry VI (r. 1422 – 1461 and 1470 – 1471).

Thomas Knolles invested a substantial part of his income in land, and in the year after his death his eldest son, who had inherited most of his estates, was said to receive £120 a year from holdings both in and out of London. Knolles also made a bequest of property to the Grocers’ Company, and left a substantial legacy to the poor of London.