Francis Knollys (1514-1596) was a Puritan, a courtier to Anne of Cleves (fourth wife of Henry VIII), a Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire, and treasurer to Elizabeth I. In 1572, he built a mansion house on the High Street in Thame.

His son, Francis Knollys (c. 1550-1648) was a pirate, a privateer and rear-admiral under Sir Francis Drake, before becoming a Member of Parliament for Reading. His daughter, Letitia, was the second wife of the famous Thame Parliamentarian, Sir John Hampden.

The Knollys descendants (including more parliamentarians and sheriffs) continued to live in the mansion until the 1700s.