Thomas Harris

Sir Thomas Harries, also spelled Harris, was born in 1550 and died on 18 February 1628. He was an English lawyer and the first Baronet of Tong Castle. Harries was the eldest son of John Harries of Cruckton, located in Shropshire, and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Prowde of Sutton.

It is believed that Thomas Harries was also the Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury in 1586. Alternatively, some sources suggest that the MP may have been Thomas Harris of Boreatton, another resident of Shrewsbury and a member of Lincoln's Inn, who was created a baronet around the same time as Harries. The historical records, specifically The History of Parliament, consider Thomas Harries the more likely candidate for this parliamentary role.

Harries received his early education at Shrewsbury School beginning in 1565. He furthered his studies at Clement's Inn and Lincoln's Inn from 1575. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1583.

In terms of his legal and civic activities, Harries was active in Shrewsbury's legal affairs. He contributed to the securing of a new town charter in 1584. That same year, he contested the parliamentary seat for Shrewsbury but was not elected, finishing third in the poll. Two years later, in 1586, he was returned unopposed to Parliament.

Harries achieved the rank of serjeant-at-law in February 1604. He became a bencher at Lincoln's Inn in 1596. Around 1600, he was appointed justice of the peace for Shropshire and, in 1601, for Cheshire.

In 1613, Harries purchased Tong Castle from Sir Edward Stanley. On 12 April 1623, he was created a baronet, with the title of Baronet of Tong Castle.

He was married to Eleanor Gifford, daughter of Roger Gifford, who served as a physician to Queen Elizabeth I. The couple had four children: one son, Francis, and three daughters. Francis and one of the daughters predeceased Sir Thomas. Consequently, the baronetcy became extinct upon his death on 18 February 1628.

Tong Castle was inherited by the family of his daughter Elizabeth, who married William Pierrepont. In 1764, Evelyn Pierrepont, the 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, sold Tong Castle to George Durant. Sir Thomas's second daughter, Anne, married the jurist John Wilde.

References for Sir Thomas Harries include genealogical records such as "A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England" by John Burke and John Bernard Burke, published in 1838, and historical sources on Tong Castle.