Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet

{{Short description|English peer (1578–1631)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox noble

|name = Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet

|image =

|caption =

|noble family = Tufton

|birth_date = 1578

|birth_place =

|death_date = 1631

|death_place =

|burial_place =

|spouse = Frances Cecil

|issue = John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet

|father = Sir John Tufton, 1st Baronet

|mother = Christian Browne

}}

Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet (1578–1631) was an English peer.

Nicholas Tufton was the son of Sir John Tufton,{{cite web |last1=Hasted |first1=Edward |title='Parishes: Rainham', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 6 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp4-15 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk |access-date=2 June 2022}} and Christian Browne, the daughter of Sir Humphrey Browne, Justice of the Common Pleas, by Agnes Hussey, the daughter of John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford, by his second wife, Anne Grey.{{Harvnb|Foster|1883|p=93}}.

Tufton represented Peterborough in 1601,{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=James William Edmund |authorlink=James William Edmund Doyle |year=1886 |title=The Official Baronage of England, v. 3 |place=London |publisher=Longmans, Green |page=521 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DO8IAAAAIAAJ}}{{cite web|title=TUFTON, Sir Nicholas (1578-1631), of Hothfield, Kent; Tufton House, Northiam, Suss.; Sileham House, Rainham, Kent and Temple Bar, Westminster.|publisher=History of Parliament|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/tufton-sir-nicholas-1578-1631|access-date=3 January 2025}} presumably through the influence of his father-in-law Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter.{{cite web|title=Constituencis 1558-1603:Peterborough|publisher=History of Parliament|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/constituencies/peterborough|access-date=3 January 2025}} Traveling north to welcome the new king to England, he was knighted by James I at Newcastle on 13 April 1603.{{cite book|title=Memorials of the Family of Tufton, Earls of Thanet|first=Robert|last=Pocock|date=1800|page=50}} He was then a justice of the peace in Kent and by 1611 a deputy lieutenant. He became a member of the Virginia Company of London in 1610. In 1624 he represented Kent as the senior Knight of the shire.{{cite web|title=Constituencies 1604-1625:Kent|publisher=History of Parliament|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/constituencies/kent|access-date=3 January 2025}} He succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1625 and was created Baron Tufton, of Tufton on 1 November 1626. For the latter honour he paid £15,000 to the Exchequer and possibly a further £5,000 to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. He was created Earl of the Isle of Thanet on 5 August 1628.

He owned Bodiam Castle, having purchased it in 1623.{{cite book|title=Bodiam and Its Lords|first=Mark Antony|last=Lower|date=1871|page=21}}

He died in at Sapcote, Leicestershire on 1 July 1631 and was buried at his request at Rainham, Kent.