Thomas Docwra Docwra in 1519. Another transaction was the leasing of land in Hampton, Middlesex to Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York. This is where Wolsey built Hampton Court of which Henry VIII of England took possession when Wolsey fell from favour. Overall the Order had over 40 preceptories spread out from Cornwall to Northumberland, the majority of which retained their consensual status. Docwra would have had to visit them all once a year. As the Lord of St John, Docwra was a senior lay baron with a seat in the House of Lords. He was one of the peers who tried
Leicester Abbey the abbey. It was during Abbot Pescall's tenure, in 1530, that Cardinal Thomas Wolsey visited the abbey. Wolsey was an influential minister in the government of King Henry VIII. He fell from favour after failing to secure papal permission for Henry to divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon, and on 4 November 1530 was arrested for treason. While en route from Yorkshire to London, where Wolsey would be held prisoner, he fell ill. The journey took Wolsey through Leicester, and he arrived at the abbey on 26 November, declaring: ""Father abbott, I ame come hether to leave my bones among