Editing Thomas Cromwell (section)

===Putney===
Thomas Cromwell is thought to have been born by or around 1485{{sfn|Leithead|2008}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=9}}{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=13}} in [[Putney]],{{efn|In 1878, his presumed birthplace was still of note: <blockquote>The site of Cromwell's birthplace is still pointed out by tradition and is in some measure confirmed by the survey of Wimbledon Manor{{nbsp}}... for it describes on that spot 'an ancient cottage called the smith's shop, lying west of the highway from [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] to [[Wandsworth]], being the sign of the Anchor'.{{sfn|Walford|1878|pp=489–503}}</blockquote> The Anchor, the family hostelry, was situated in modern-day Brewhouse Lane, near to the [[Thames]] in Putney.{{sfn|Borman|2014|pp=8−9}} Another tradition places the cottage higher on Putney Hill, at the edge of Putney Heath.{{sfn|Borman|2014|pp=8–9}}}} then a village in [[Surrey]] providing a ferry service across the Thames upstream from [[Tudor London|London]].{{sfn|Borman|2014|pp=402−403}} His grandfather, John, had moved to the area from [[Nottinghamshire]]{{efn|A well-informed but anonymous contemporary chronicler wrote that the Cromwell family was of Irish ancestry, but the nineteenth-century scholar [[James Gairdner]] traced the family roots to [[Norwell, Nottinghamshire|Norwell]] in Nottinghamshire.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=16}}<ref name=Gairdner>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Cromwell, Thomas (1485?-1540)|last=Gairdner|first= James|author-link=James Gairdner|volume=13}}</ref>}} to run a [[fulling]] mill (for wool processing) leased to him by the archbishop of Canterbury,{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=11}} who had a mansion further upstream [[Mortlake#History|at Mortlake]] and was lord of the local [[Wimbledon Manor House#Early history|manor of Wimbledon]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=15}} His father, Walter ({{circa|1450|1514}}{{sfn|Angus|2022|p=2, p. 23}}), was an ambitious [[yeoman]] landowner who plied various trades, operating as a sheep farmer and wool processor ("fuller" and "[[Nap (fabric)|shearman]]"),{{sfn|Loades|2013|pp=11–12}} while also running a [[tavern]] and a [[History of beer#Early modern Europe|brewery]].{{sfn|Coby|2009|p=45}} A popular tradition that he was also a [[blacksmith]] is plausible, although the association could have arisen from his use of the alternative surname of ''Smith''<ref name=jb>{{cite book |last1=Blomfield |first1=Jackson |title=Putney Past and Present |date=1882 |publisher=Charles Cull |place=London|oclc=1257968294 |pages=10–11|quotation=the father ... is indifferently described as Walter Cromwell or Walter Smith}}</ref> (as in "Cromwell alias Smyth"{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=11}}).{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=10}} As a successful tradesman, Cromwell's father was regularly called upon for [[Juries in England and Wales#History|jury service]] and was elected [[Parish constable#Functions of parish constables|Constable]] of Putney in 1495.{{sfn|Leithead|2008}} He had frequent brushes with the law himself in the local [[manorial court]], often on relatively minor matters,{{efn|MacCulloch largely dismisses as "Victorian fantasy" popular accounts that Walter was a violent man, unscrupulous in his business dealings, contending that such notions are based on a mistaken understanding of Putney manorial court records, where civil disagreements are not easily distinguished from criminal proceedings, or fines for breaching ale quality standards from "a routine manorial system of licensing ale-selling".{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=15}}}} but also for assault and, ultimately, in 1514, for "falsely and fraudulently"{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=12}} removing evidence from the [[court roll]] regarding his manorial tenancy, a judgement that led to confiscation of all his accumulated lands.{{sfn|Borman|2014|pp=26−27}}

Little is known about Cromwell's mother, even though she came from a recognised [[Landed gentry|gentry]] family, the Meverells of [[Staffordshire]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=16}} Generally referred to as "Katherine Meverell", her first name is uncertain.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=16}} She married Cromwell's father in 1474 while living in Putney in the house of a local [[Attorney at law#Previous usage in Ireland and Britain|attorney]], John Welbeck.{{sfn|Leithead|2008}}{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=13}}

Cromwell is assumed to have been the youngest of three children.{{sfn|Loades|2013|p=11}}{{efn|In the single surviving mention of his mother, Cromwell made the improbable assertion that she was 52 years old at the time of his birth.{{sfn|Borman|2014|p=8}}}} He had two sisters: the elder, Katherine, married Morgan Williams, a Welsh lawyer's son who came to Putney as a follower of King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] when he established himself in the nearby [[Richmond Palace]];<ref name=jb/> the younger, Elizabeth, married William Wellyfed, a sheep farmer.{{sfn|Borman|2014|pp=26−27}} Katherine and Morgan's son, [[Richard Williams (alias Cromwell)|Richard]], was employed in his uncle's service and by the autumn of 1529 had changed his name to Cromwell.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=38|ps=:"Richard seems to have taken up his new surname in autumn 1529, for in mid-December he was already referred to as 'Richard Cromwell'."}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Noble |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Noble (biographer) |year=1787 |edition=3|title=Memoirs of the Protectorate-house of Cromwell: Deduced from an Early Period, and Continued Down to the Present Time,...|volume=1 |location=London|publisher=C. G. J. and J. Robinson |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SFkUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA5 5]–20}}</ref> Richard was the great-grandfather of [[Oliver Cromwell]].{{sfn|Leithead|2008}}

No record survives of Cromwell's childhood days in Putney, and it is unknown whether he was ever sent to [[Latin school|school]] or had to serve an [[Apprenticeships in the United Kingdom#Early history|apprenticeship]].{{sfn|Borman|2014|p=13}} Various people from Putney crop up in his adult life, and he maintained close relations with his two sisters and their extended families.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|pp=18; 20}}