Sir Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (1495 – 23 August 1568) was an English nobleman and a follower of King Henry VIII of England. He is best known for his victory at Solway Moss on 24 November 1542 for which he was given a barony.
Early life
He was born in Wharton, Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Wharton of Wharton Hall and his wife Agnes Warcup, daughter of Reynold or Reginald Warcup of Smardale. His younger brother was the English martyr Christopher Wharton. His father died around 1520, and in April 1522 he served on a raiding expedition into Scotland.
Officer on the Scottish border
On 10 February 1524 he was placed on the commission for the peace in Cumberland, and on 20 June 1527 he is said to have been knighted at Windsor. To the parliament that met on 3 November 1529, Wharton was returned for Appleby, but on the 9th he was pricked for High Sheriff of Cumberland. On 30 June 1531 he was appointed commissioner for redress of outrages on the Anglo-Scottish Border. On 6 February 1532 he was made Justice of the Peace for the East Riding of Yorkshire, and on 19 March for Northumberland, and he was usually included in the commissions for Cumberland and Westmorland.
In 1531 he purchased the manor of Healaugh, near Tadcaster where he resided for the latter part of his life.
Official posts
In 1532 he appears to have been captain of Cockermouth, and, as comptroller, was associated with Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland in the government of the border marches. This followed the grant in 1530 of the hereditary lieutenancy of Cockermouth by Northumberland, part of a package of gifts designed to allow Wharton to take over military duties from the ailing Northumberland, and they would remain closely associated until his death. On 29 June 1534 Northumberland recommended Wharton's appointment as captain of Carlisle, and on 9 July he was commissioned to inquire into the 'treasons' of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, against Northumberland; Dacre was brought to trial, but acquitted by his peers. On 22 November 1535 Wharton was again appointed sheriff of Cumberland.
During the northern rebellions of 1536 Wharton remained loyal to Henry VIII. In October 1536 the rebels marched on his house at Kirkby Stephen to force Wharton to join them, but he had escaped and joined the Duke of Norfolk, under whom he served during the troubles; he was one of the king's representatives at the conference at York on 24 November, with Robert Aske and his followers. His appointment as Warden of the West Marches was suggested as a reward for his services; but Norfolk instead recommended Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland, for the post. Wharton was, however, on 28 June 1537 appointed deputy warden, and in the same year was acting as a visitor of monasteries in Cumberland. He was unpopular with the older nobility, being one of the new men on whom the Tudors relied; Robert Holgate, as President of the Council of the North, commented on the disdain of his neighbours. On 17 November 1539 he was for the third time appointed sheriff of Cumberland; on 14 May 1541 he sent Henry an account of the state of Scotland, and on 22 October the king ordered reprisals for the burning of some barns near Bewcastle by the Scots; two days later he added the captaincy of Carlisle to his office of deputy warden, and on 3 January 1542 he was returned to parliament as knight of the shire for Cumberland.
Battle of Solway Moss
During 1542 both English and Scots were preparing for war, and Wharton submitted a plan for raiding Scotland and seizing the person of James V at Lochmaben; the council, however, disapproved of the idea. Wharton burnt Dumfries on 5 October, and on 23 November made another raid, doing as much damage as he could. Meanwhile, the Scots had planned an extensive invasion of the west marches, of which Wharton was kept informed by spies. At supper on the 23rd he received definite information of an impending attack on the morrow: the Scots were said to be fourteen (or even twenty) thousand strong, while Wharton could only muster a few hundred men. With these he watched the progress of the Scots over the River Esk during the 24th; towards evening he attacked their left; under Oliver Sinclair, the Scots became entangled in Solway Moss at the mouth of the river. Many including nobles were taken prisoner, killed, or drowned, while the English loss was small. Before the Privy Council had heard of his victory at Solway Moss, on 30 November they wrote requesting Wharton to review the building works of the Moravian military engineer Stefan von Haschenperg at Carlisle. On 12 December 1542, the Council read his official report of the battle.