File:Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southhamption, Grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, Chancellor of Henry VIII (3772875357).jpg

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton KG (21 December 1505 – July 30, 1550) (pronounced "Risly") was a politician of the Tudor period born in London to William Wrythe and Agnes Drayton. He married Jane Cheney and they had four children:

1. William Wriothesley (born before September 12 1535 and died in August of 1537) 2. Anthony Wriothesley (born & died an infant in 1542) 3. Elizabeth Wriothesley (b. abt. 1536 she died in 1554 and was buried 16 January 1554 she married Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex before November 1, 1545. 4. Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton (Christened 24 April 1545 – 4 October 1581 married Mary Browne

Entering the service of Henry VIII at an early age, Wriothesley soon made himself very useful to his royal master, and he was richly rewarded when the monasteries were dissolved, obtaining extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester.

Having been on errands abroad, he was made one of the king's principal secretaries in 1540 ( a position he held jointly with Sir Ralph Sadleir), and was knighted in the same year; in spite of the fall of his patron, Thomas Cromwell, he rose higher and higher in the royal favour, and in 1542 it was said that he governed almost everything in England. He sought to bring about an alliance between England and Spain in 1543, and was created Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield in 1544.

Having been Lord Privy Seal for a few months, he became Lord Chancellor in 1544, in which capacity he became notorious for his persecution of Anne Askew; some say that he operated the rack on which Askew was tortured. Certainly he was one of the executors of Henry's will, and in accordance with the dead king's wishes he was created Earl of Southampton on 16 February 1547. However, he had been incautious enough to appoint four persons to relieve him of his duties as Lord Chancellor, and advantage was taken of this to deprive him of his office in March, when he also ceased to be a member of the Privy Council.