For the American football player, seeTommy Maddox.
Thomas Madox (1666 – 13 January 1727) was a legalantiquary and historian, known for his publication and discussion of medieval records and charters; and in particular for hisHistory of theExchequer, tracing the administration and records of that branch of the state from theNorman Conquest to the time ofEdward II. It became a standard work for the study of English medieval history. He held the office ofhistoriographer royal from 1708 until his death.
Madox was born in 1666. He applied himself at an early age to the study of the common law, and was admitted to theMiddle Temple, though he was nevercalled to the bar.[1] He became a sworn clerk in theLord Treasurer's remembrance office (i.e. official archives), and afterwards joint clerk in theAugmentation Office, which administered the crown estates; first with Charles Batteley, who died in May 1722, and afterwards with John Batteley.[1][2]
There he pursued his historical researches under the patronage ofLord Somers. He made his first appearance as an author with the publication ofFormulare Anglicanum in 1702, concerning ancient charters, which Madox introduced with a learned dissertation on the subject. The principal materials for this work were obtained from the archives of thecourt of augmentations. It is "justly" (according to theDictionary of National Biography) described by BishopWilliam Nicolson as "of unspeakable service to our students in law and antiquities".[3] On the motion ofPeter Le Neve, Madox was elected a member of theSociety of Antiquaries in January 1708.[1][4]
In 1711 he published hisHistory of the Exchequer, with a dedication to the Queen and a long prefatory epistle to Lord Somers, giving an account of his researches among the public records to gather the materials for the work. Madox was subsequently sworn in and admitted to the office ofhistoriographer royal, in succession toThomas Rymer, on 12 July 1714,[5] with an attached salary of £200 a year.[1]
The last of his works Madox saw printed in his lifetime wasFirma Burgi, on early records concerning English towns and boroughs, dedicated to George I, published in 1723. Madox died on 13 January 1727, and was buried atArlesey, Bedfordshire.[6] He was succeeded in the office of historiographer royal by Robert Stephens.
A posthumous work,Baronia Anglica, on the history and records of thefeudal barons, appeared in 1736. A collection of further transcripts was bequeathed by his widow to theBritish Museum, as an addition to theSloane Library. It ran to ninety-four volumes,[7] folio and quarto, consisting chiefly of extracts of records from the Exchequer, thePatent andClose Rolls in the Tower, theCottonian Library, the archives of Canterbury and Westminster, and the library ofCorpus Christi College, Cambridge; all that Madox had transcribed himself, intending them as materials for aFeudal History of England from the earliest times.[1][8]
An account of all the gold and silver coins ever used in England: particularly of their value, fineness, and allay, and the standards of gold and silver in all the respective reigns for the last six hundred years: likewise of it's plenty and scarcity, London, 1718, 23pp.[9]
Firma Burgi, or an Historical Essay concerning the Cities, Towns, and Boroughs of England, taken from Records, London, 1723, and again 1726, 297 pp.[1][9]
Baronia Anglica; an History of Land-honours and Baronies, and of Tenure incapite Verified by Records, London, 1736, 292pp.; reissued in 1741.[1][9]
Harrison, Charlotte (2008). "Thomas Madox and the Origins of English Diplomatic Scholarship".Journal of the Society of Archivists.29 (2):147–169.doi:10.1080/00379810902916282.S2CID143650038.
Sims, Catherine S. (1959). "An Unpublished Fragment of Madox'History of the Exchequer".Huntington Library Quarterly.23 (1):61–94.doi:10.2307/3816477.JSTOR3816477.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Madox, Thomas".Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. The entry cites: