Thomas Southouse b.1665/6

Thomas SOUTHOUSE b.1665/6

The armorial bookplate used by the Southouse family, from FOL. BV4655 T6 in the Foyle Special Collections Library, King's College London

Biographical Note

Son of Thomas Southouse of Faversham and his wife Elizabeth Filmore of Sittingbourne. Matriculated Queen's College, Oxford 1681 and was admitted to Gray's Inn in the same year. Called to the bar 1700. Was mayor of Faversham in 1679 and in 1688 when James II was held at his house after being caught in an attempt to flee to the continent.

Books

The Foyle Special Collections library at King’s College London holds four catechismal works by Gabriel Towerson (1635?-1697) containing Southouse bookplates. Towerson had been a slightly older contemporary of the elder Southouse at Oxford. He was a student at The Queen’s College Oxford, 1650-1659, and was elected to fellowship of All Souls’ College in 1660. Since all but one of the following were published after his death, however, they most likely belonged to one (or both) of Southouse senior's sons. Examples: An explication of the decalogue or ten commandments, with reference to the Catechism of the Church of England... FOL. BV4655 T6; An explication of the catechism of the Church of England. Part I (1678) FOL. BX5139 T6; An explication of the catechism of the Church of England. Part III, (1680) FOL. BX5139 T61; An explication of the catechism of the Church of England. Part IV (1688) FOL. BX5139 T6.

At least one book (P.g.23) in Queen's College Library, Oxford, appears to be bear the inscription of the younger Thomas: "Librum hunc ... Thomas Southouse ... M.DC.LXXXIII.", and one in the Bodleian is inscribed "Ex libris Tho: Southouse è Coll: Reg: Oxon:" (12:SR.11.v.7).

Characteristic Markings

The books listed above contain bookplates bearing an armorial crest with the legend ‘Southouse’. This crest is found on Southouse tombs in Faversham Parish Church.

Sources

• Foster, J. Alumni oxonienses; the members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714. Vol. 4, 1892.
• Foster, J. The register of admissions to Gray's Inn, 1521-1889.
• Vallance, T. “The Captivity of James II: Gestures of Loyalty and Disloyalty in Seventeenth-Century England.” Journal of British Studies 48, no. 4 (2009): 848–58.
• Information from King’s College London, Foyle Special Collections Library.