Background
Baptised at Great Amwell, he was the son of William Keightley (born 1621) of Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Williams of London, (who had married in 1648).
commissioner official courtier
Baptised at Great Amwell, he was the son of William Keightley (born 1621) of Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Williams of London, (who had married in 1648).
Thomas Keightley was appointed gentleman-usher to James, Duke of York, on 2 June 1672. He was appointed vice-treasurer of Ireland early in 1686, and in July following was sent to London by Clarendon, nominally to attend to his private affairs, but really to keep Clarendon"s brother, Rochester, posted on Irish matters, and to maintain Clarendon"s influence at court. Keightley seems to have stayed in London throughout James II"s reign, but Clarendon"s efforts to induce the king to give his brother-in-law a high place in the Irish government failed.
When James II fled from Whitehall at the approach of William of Orange (December 1688), Keightley was sent by Clarendon to the fugitive king at Rochester to entreat him to stay in England.
James II saw Keightley on the night of 22 December, but left for France early the next morning. After the Glorious Revolution Keightley returned to Ireland.
In 1692 he was appointed a commissioner of the Irish revenue, a post which he had long sought. In 1696 he was granted Portlick Castle which had been confiscated from Garret Dillon.
Many of his letters to John Ellis, dated between 1698 and 1705, are in the British Museum.
He was commissioner for the Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1710. Keightley died on 19 January 1719. He may be the Thomas Keightley, merchant, of London, who sat as Member of Parliament for Beeralston in the parliament of 1620-1621.
He died in London on 22 February 1662-1663, and was buried in Hertingfordbury Church.
This lady was a first cousin of John Evelyn the diarist, and is described by him as possessing unusual sprightliness and comeliness when 86 years old.