Thomas Bache (judge)

Thomas Bache (died c.1410) was an Anglo-Italian cleric and judge who held high office in Ireland in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, serving one term as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. He also served for three terms as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

The Bache family came originally from Genoa.[1] They had a long-standing connection with the English Court: for several decades two "merchants of Genoa", who were both named Antonio Bache, and were presumably father and son, supplied the Royal Household with spices and other luxuries, and also loaned the English Crown substantial sums of money.[2] Thomas was almost certainly a member of this family although his exact relationship with the two Antonios is unclear.[3]

Thomas entered the Church and served as a Crown official in England in an unspecified capacity, before coming to Ireland in the late 1360s.[4] He did not reach the highest ranks of the Church, but he was appointed Archdeacon of Dublin, then Archdeacon of Meath; he was also given the livings of Kilberry, County Meath, and Brington, Northamptonshire.[5]

He achieved high office in the political and judicial spheres, being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland in 1376, and Lord Treasurer 1400–1402.[6] He was appointed a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) in 1380, and became Chief Baron the following year. He was twice superseded but then reappointed as Chief Baron, before retiring for good in 1405. He also served as Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1398. He probably died in 1410.[7]

References
  1. Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p.164
  2. Steel, Anthony The Receipt of the Exchequer 1377-1485 Cambridge University Press 1954 p.146
  3. Ball p.164
  4. Ball p.164
  5. Ball p.164
  6. Ball p.164
  7. Ball p.164



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