GEMMS IDGEMMS-PERSON-003443
NameThomas Bendish
TitleSir
Gendermale
Denomination
Livedb. 1607-01-01 - d. ca. 1674-01-01 (new)
Linked Manuscriptsmanuscript owner - Estate Notebook, records of various Essex families : D/DHf E205
Linked SermonsSermon on Matthew 119:17 -- notetaker? (autograph: no)
Linked Reports
Associated PlacesSteeple Bumpstead -- HomeMiddle Temple -- Place of StudySt John's College -- Place of StudyConstantinople -- PostTower of London -- Prison
Source of DataCatherine Evans
Biographical Sources ConsultedODNB (54605)
Other NoteSir Thomas Bendish, second baronet, was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Bendish (1568-1636) and Dorothy (d. 1635), daughter of Richard Cotts. Their familial home was Bower Hall, Steeple Bumpstead, Essex. In 1624 he matriculated from St Joh’s College and was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1626. He married Anne Baker (d. 1649) on 16 October 1627, with whom he would have a large family. He succeded his father as second baronet in 1636. At the outbreak of the civil war, Bendish was a vocal supporter of the king and would be imprisoned for a proclamation in the Tower of London until 1644. This estates were sequestered and he was fined £800 on his release and banished from Essex. In 1647 he was appointed as Ambassador to Turkey with a salary of £2000. He left for Constantinople with his wife, five of his daughters, and at least one of his sons. They broke their travels in Italy for an extended period, where his eldest daughter married the Leghorn merchant Philip Williams.
When he arrived in Constantinople his predecessor Sackville Crowe refused to relinquish his post and was forcibly removed after Bendish bribed key Ottoman officials. It appears that Charles I may have been forced to sign Bendish’s credentials, but seems to have accepted his appointment, sending him a bed in 1648 which was a traditional royal gift to the Turkish ambassador. In Constantinople, Bendish focused on removing the factionalism and improving the profitability of the company by reducing corruption. He secured consent from the Ottoman sultan to trade in Ottoman territory in 1648 and gunboat diplomacy, to bring a small merchant fleet. He also regularly toured the slave entrepots of Constantinople to buy English slaves to free them.
During the commonwealth, he saw off an attempt by a royalist sympathizer Henry Hyde to take his charge and attacks from merchants. Despite difficult conditions, he proved to be a strong administrator and excelled at making use of the Ottoman system to improve policy for both the Levant Company and the Commonwealth, securing free passage for English ships in Ottoman waters and customs exemptions. During his residency, one of his sons Thomas drowned when his ship was attacked in 1649, and in the same year his wife died of plague. In 1651 Bendish was imprisoned after refusing to cooperate in a commercial dispute. In 1652, the Commonwealth authorities decided to replace Bendish, but he prevented the interim agent from being presented at court. His replacement turned down the post due to low pay, and Bendish was reconfirmed in the role. Two of his sons took up posts in Turkey and two of his daughters married Levant company members. His sencod daughter, Abigail, married a Smyran merchant.
Following the Restoration, Charles II decided to appoint a stalwart royalist in Constantinople. Bendish returned to England, taking his wife’s remains for reburial at Bower Hall. He was embroiled in a long, acrimonious battle with the Levant Company about outstanding expenses and died in 1674.
GEMMS record createdJune 09, 2021
GEMMS record last editedJune 11, 2021