Thomas Posthumous Hoby

Sir Thomas Posthumus Hoby (1566 – 30 December 1640), also spelt Hobie, Hobbie and Hobby, Posthumous and Postumus, was an English gentleman and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1629. A Puritan, he has been claimed as the inspiration for Shakespeare's character Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Life Hoby was the younger son of Sir Thomas Hoby (1530–1566), the English Ambassador to France in 1557, by his wife, Elizabeth Cooke. Elizabeth was one of the daughters of the humanist Sir Anthony Cooke (1504–1576). Hoby was born after his father's death, which led to his gaining the additional name Posthumus. His sisters Elizabeth and Anne died within a few days of each other in February 1571. His elder brother was the diplomat and scholar Sir Edward Hoby (1560–1617). Hoby was also a nephew of Sir Philip Hoby, Master-General of the Ordnance and an English ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire. Hoby was a very small boy and grew up to be nicknamed "the little knight" for his slightness and short stature. He was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Oxford, matriculating in 1574 at the age of eight.