Sir Thomas Wroth

• Born 1674, son of Sir John Wroth, 2nd Baronet.
• Inherited the baronetcy and Petherton Park estate (in North Petherton) in 1677 as a child.
• Served as a Member of Parliament:
• MP for Bridgwater (1690–1695)
• MP for Somerset (1699–1701)
• Married Mary Osbaldeston in 1693.
• Died in 1721 without a surviving male heir, and with him the Wroth baronetcy became extinct.
• He left charitable bequests, including the £500 trust mentioned in Kelly’s Directory, the interest of which supported the education of poor children in North Petherton.

£500 in 1721 had the equivalent purchasing power of approximately £72,000 to £80,000 in 2025

• The Wroths were an old gentry family with estates at Petherton Park, North Petherton.
• They had held the park since Tudor times and were active in county politics.
• Earlier members included Sir Thomas Wroth (1516–1573), MP and courtier under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and later baronets created in 1660.

Here’s a concise timeline of the Wroth family at Petherton Park (North Petherton) and how the baronetcy/estate passed down to Sir Thomas Wroth (d. 1721):

• c. 1508 — Robert Wroth (grandfather of the Tudor courtier) is granted the office of Forester of Petherton Park by Henry VII, marking the family’s early tie to North Petherton. 
• 1550s — Sir Thomas Wroth (1516–1573), courtier to Edward VI and noted Marian exile, consolidates the family’s Somerset estates, including Petherton Park (contemporary accounts say he purchased it from the Crown in 1550), and sought broader forest rights locally.
• 1576–1614 — Sir Robert Wroth (1576–1614), grandson of the Tudor Sir Thomas (and husband of the poet Lady Mary Wroth), inherits but dissipates much of the Somerset property, which is later sold.
• c. 1613–1620s — Sir Thomas Wroth (1584–1672) (a cousin from the Kent/Enfield branch) repurchases the Somerset estates, including Petherton Park, and makes it the seat of his branch of the family; he becomes a prominent (republican-leaning) MP.
• 29 Nov 1660 — Restoration honor: Sir John Wroth (1627–1664), nephew of the above, is created 1st Baronet, of Blenden Hall (Kent).
• 1664 → 1677 — Sir John Wroth, 2nd Baronet (1653–1677) succeeds; on Sir Thomas Wroth (1584–1672)’s death, the Petherton Park estates pass into this baronet line.
• c. 1674 (b.) / 1677 (succ.) — Sir Thomas Wroth, 3rd Baronet (c.1674–1721) inherits as a minor on his father’s death in 1677, with Petherton Park as his seat. (Some sources previously gave 1674 for the 2nd baronet’s death; the standard listing shows 1653–1677.)
• 1693 — The Alfred Jewel is discovered at Petherton Park during the Wroth tenure (often associated with “Sir Thomas Wroth” in local histories).
• 1701–1715 — The 3rd Baronet sits in Parliament: MP for Bridgwater (1701–1708), Somerset (1710–1713), and Wells (1713–1715); he also serves as High Sheriff of Somerset (1708–09).
• 1721 — Sir Thomas Wroth, 3rd Baronet, dies; the baronetcy becomes extinct. His estates pass to his elder daughter Cicely Wroth, who had just married Sir Hugh Acland, 6th Bt. (younger daughter Elizabeth marries Thomas Palmer, FRS).