Editing Thomas Docwra (section)

==Career==
He was admitted to the [[Knights Hospitaller]] at the age of 16, spending about four years as a novitiate. In 1480 he was on the Island of [[Rhodes]] with Sir Thomas Greene during the unsuccessful siege of the Island by the [[Turkey|Turks]]. He later became [[Preceptor]] of the Order's holdings at [[Dinmore Manor|Dinmore]], [[Herefordshire]]. In 1494 he became Prior of [[Ireland]] and then a year later [[Turcopolier]] of the English tongue. By 1499 he became Captain of the [[Castle of St. Peter]] in [[Bodrum]], Turkey. In 1501 he succeeded Sir John Kendal as Grand Prior in England, taking responsibility for all the Order's property in England. He reversed the policy of leasing property to secular tenants, most noticeably concerning [[Temple Balsall]] in [[Warwickshire]] where he terminated the lease of Sir [[Robert Throckmorton (courtier)|Robert Throckmorton]] and attempted to claim arrears of rent. When Sir Lancelot Docwra arrived to repossess the property, Throckmorton had fortified the manor house and refused to allow the Order to enter.

Nevertheless, in 1519 Thomas leased [[Temple Dinsley]] in [[Hertfordshire]] to his nephew John Docwra. He leased land at [[Hampton, London|Hampton]], [[Middlesex]] to [[Thomas Wolsey]], [[Archbishop of York]], where that prelate built [[Hampton Court]] which [[Henry VIII of England]] converted to a royal palace when Wolsey fell from favour. Overall the Order had over 40 preceptories spread out from [[Cornwall]] to [[Northumberland]], the majority of which retained their [[convent]]ual status. Docwra would have visited them all once a year.

As the Lord of St John, Docwra was deemed the senior lay baron of England, with a prominent seat in the [[House of Lords]]. He was one of the peers who tried the [[Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham|Duke of Buckingham]] for treason in 1521. He was a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] and Admiral of the English Fleet, which may have been an honorary title.

As Grand Prior of St John he served on a number of commissions: he was involved with drainage in [[Lincolnshire]], where the order had substantial landholdings and was appointed by the Masters of the Mint to a commission to investigate irregularities. He was also connected with the "search for suspicious characters in London" in 1520. He conducted marriage negotiations as well as financial and commercial matters on behalf of King [[Henry VII, of England|Henry VII]] and his son Henry VIII. In 1510, the Grand Master of the Order in Rhodes requested that he come and help defend the Order against the Turks, but Henry VIII refused to allow him leave to depart the kingdom. In 1512 he was expected to turn up with 300 men-at-arms and a 200-ton ship when that king had a military adventure to pursue in [[France]]. In 1520 he accompanied the king at the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]] near [[Calais]].