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
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk the King's attempt to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon annulled. By 1529, matters of state were being increasingly handled by Norfolk, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Boleyns, who pressed King Henry VIII to remove Cardinal Wolsey. In October, the King sent Norfolk and the Duke of Suffolk to obtain the great seal from the Cardinal. In November, Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, but died before trial. Norfolk benefited from Wolsey's fall, becoming the King's leading Councillor and applying himself energetically in the King's efforts to find a way out of his marriage to