SUTTON, THOMAS
Arms.—On a chevron between 3 annulets gu., as many crescents of the field. Sutton.
Crest.—A greyhound's head couped erm., collared gu., garnished and ringed or, on the collar an annulet of the first.
Helmet.—That of an Esquire.
Legend.—Thos · sutton · arm · fundator.
Note.—The word fundator applies to Charterhouse School.
[Cæsar. C. Julii Cæsaris quæ extant. Lugduni Batavorum, 1635.]
Thomas Sutton (born circ. 1532, died 12th December 1611) was the son of Richard Sutton, Steward of the Courts of Lincoln. He is said to have been educated at Eton, and afterwards studied law at Lincoln's Inn. In early life Sutton was a soldier and saw active service, and in 1569 he was appointed Master of the Ordnance in the North.
While in the north Sutton acquired considerable possessions in land, and from these he drew a large fortune. One of the ships fitted out to resist the Spanish Armada was called the "Sutton." Sutton was very generous with his money, and in 1611 he purchased Charterhouse in Middlesex, where he founded the famous school of that name. The foundation of this school was originally intended for the benefit of forty boys of good birth and necessitous parents, but in time it came about that to be a foundation scholar, or gown boy, was a mark of distinction. Thackeray was a Charterhouse boy and was familiar with the surroundings there. Besides the school, there was a foundation or hospital at Charterhouse for "poverty-stricken gentlemen." The school was moved to Godalming in 1872, but the "hospital" still remains in Charterhouse Square. Sutton's tomb is in the Chapel at the Charterhouse.