Thomas Madox

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Thomas Madox (1666–13 January 1727) was an English lawyer, antiquary and historian who studied medieval records and charters. His most famous work is History of the Exchequer, which traced how the Exchequer operated and kept records from the Norman Conquest to the time of Edward II. It became a key reference for scholars of medieval England. He served as historiographer royal from 1714 until his death.

Madox was born in 1666 and began studying law at an early age. He joined the Middle Temple but was never called to the bar. He worked as a sworn clerk in the Lord Treasurer's Remembrance Office (the crown archives) and later as a joint clerk in the Augmentation Office, which managed the king's estates. He worked under the patronage of Lord Somers. His first book, Formulare Anglicanum (1702), collected ancient charters and opened with a learned essay; much of its material came from the Augmentation Office. Bishop William Nicolson praised it as a great help to law and antiquities scholars.

In 1708 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He published History of the Exchequer in 1711, dedicating it to the Queen and writing a long preface to Lord Somers about his research. He was sworn in as historiographer royal on 12 July 1714, with a salary of £200 a year. He published Firma Burgi (1723), about early records of English towns, before dying in 1727 and being buried at Arlesey, Bedfordshire. Robert Stephens succeeded him as historiographer royal.

A posthumous work Baronia Anglica appeared in 1736. His widow left a large collection of transcripts to the British Museum, about 94 volumes, to support a future Feudal History of England. Madox married Catharine Edwards (daughter of Vigarus Edwards) and had no children.