Thomas Blanke

Sir Thomas Blanke was a 16th-century English politician who served as Lord Mayor of London. He was the son of a London haberdasher, also named Thomas Blanke, and the brother-in-law of John Altham, one of the Sheriffs of London in 1557.^[1][2] Like his father, Thomas Blanke followed the trade of a haberdasher. He became an alderman in 1572 and served as one of the Sheriffs of London in 1574.^[3] He was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1582. He had the misfortune to be elected during a severe outbreak of the plague;^[4] due to the pestilence, there was no pageant celebrating his election, and he was not presented to the queen until the next May.^[5] Much of his mayoralty was spent dealing with the effects of the plague, and his efforts earned him the appellation of "The Good Knight".^[6] He died in 1588, at the age of 74, and was buried at St Mary-at-Hill;^[7] his wife lived until 1596, being buried in the same tomb.^[8] As he had died without issue, his estate at Abbott's Inn passed into the Altham family, who retained it until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.^[9]

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