Mede, Thomas

[Mead8.FTW]

Thomas Mede, of St. Mary Redcliffe, was the bailiff of Bristol in 1438-39 and sheriff in 1452-53.

Brass rubbing in Ashmolean Museum, Oxford:
Parish: St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol
Coat of Arms: Gules a chevron ermine between three trefoils slipped argent

Thomas Mede is probably the father of "Thomas Mede of Somerset" who went to Clavering, Essex in about 1470 and died there in 1504. The connection between Sir Thomas Mede of Wraxall, Somerset, and Thomas Mede in Clavering, Essex, is based on three pieces of circumstantial evidence.

First, the names. There were three generations of Thomas Medes in Somerset and five or six generations of Thomas Medes or Meades in Essex.

Second, the coat of arms. Several Meades in Essex used the same coat of arms: a chevron ermine bewteen three trefoils slipped argent.

Third, Clavering. The niece of Thomas Mede of Wraxall, Isabel Mede, married Maurice de Berkeley, who was the cousin by marriage of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who owned the manor of Clavering. After Warwick died at the battle of Barnet in 1471, the manor was given in 1472 to King Edward''s brother, the Duke of Clarence, who also owned property in Bristol. So, most likely, Thomas Mede was rewarded with land for supporting Clarence and Edward against Warwick.