Ducket, Thomas, Sir (1566 -1608)

Sir Thomas Ducket, of Barcot and Buckland in Berkshire, was the only son of Sir Lionel Ducket, Lord Mayor of London (d.1587), and his wife Dame Jane Packington. In 1585, he married Margaret Nelson, against the wishes of his parents. As a result his father altered his will, though without disinheriting him completely. He was knighted 23 July 1603. This stamp occurs on 26 volumes in the library of St John's College, Oxford, with printed book labels showing them to be donations from Thomas Ducket Esquire. He died in 1608, when his wife Dame Margaret is mentioned in the will of his cousin Lionel, who inherited most of Thomas's property. W.C. Costin in his History of St John's. 1958, p.71, says that the books at St John's were there about 1603, and that there are no records of the donor at St John's. The border is virtually identical with that of one of the bookstamps of Sir Edward Coke (1549 1633).