Wilkes was the author of: 1. ‘A Treatise on Dropsy,’ London, 1730, 8vo; new edit. 1777. 2. ‘A Letter to the Gentlemen, Farmers, and Graziers of the County of Staffordshire on the Treatment of the Distemper now prevalent among Horned Cattle, and its Prevention and Cure,’ London, 1743, 8vo. He contemplated a new edition of Butler's ‘Hudibras,’ for which he made notes, and wrote part of a history of Staffordshire, which is preserved in manuscript in the Salt Library, together with a transcription by Captain Fernyhough, made in 1832. It was discovered by Stebbing Shaw [q. v.] in 1792, and incorporated by him in his ‘History of Staffordshire.’ Several letters, written between 1746 and 1755, from Wilkes to Charles Lyttelton [q. v.], afterwards bishop of Carlisle, are preserved in the British Museum (Stowe MS. 753, ff. 70, 242, 248, 286).
[Shaw's Hist. of Staffordshire, 1798–1801, vol. i. preface, vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 147–9, 205; Simms's Bibliotheca Stafford. 1894; Baker's Hist. of St. John's Coll. 1869, i. 303, ii. 1008; Admissions to St. John's Coll. 1893, ii. 196.]
WILKES, Sir THOMAS (1545?–1598), diplomatist, born about 1545, is said by Wood (Fasti, i. 188) to have been a native of Sussex. The Oxford registers do not supply his father's name, and the family occurs in many counties and in many forms, such as Wikes, Wylkes, Weekes, Wyckes, and other variations. A Richard Wilkes (d. 1556) was master of Christ's College, Cambridge, from 1548 to 1553 (Cooper, Athenæ Cantabr. i. 162, 548); a Thomas Wilkes represented Chippenham in the ‘reformation’ parliament of 1529–35 (Official Return of Members of Parl. i. 370), and another Thomas Wilkes, haberdasher, of London, was fined 200l. in 1551 for refusing to serve as sheriff (Wriothesley, Chron. ii. 51–4). The diplomatist commenced in 1564 to travel on the continent, and after spending eight years in France, Germany, and Italy, he returned to England and settled at Oxford, where in 1572 he became probationer-fellow of All Souls', graduating B.A. in February 1572–3 (Wilkes's statement in Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1591–4, p. 398; Reg. Univ. Oxon. ii. iii. 25). On 19 March following Dr. Valentine Dale [q. v.], an ex-fellow of All Souls', was appointed ambassador to France, and he invited Wilkes to become his secretary. Some objection to his absence was raised by the fellows on the ground that Wilkes was ‘not a fellow, only a probationer;’ but a letter from the privy council, sent on 24 May at Dale's request, produced the requisite license of absence (Cal. State Papers, For. 1572–4, No. 904; Acts P. C. 1571–5, p. 107; Lansdowne MS. 892, f. 201).
From the first Wilkes was employed on important and delicate negotiations at Paris. In April 1574 he was instructed by Elizabeth to convey assurances of her support to Henry of Navarre and the Duc d'Alençon, who had been arrested by the queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici (Cal. State Papers, For. 1572–4, Nos. 1390, 1395). In July Alençon revealed the negotiation to Catherine, who would have arrested Wilkes but for the intervention of the king of Navarre; as it was, Wilkes had to leave France, and on 10 July Catherine wrote to Elizabeth bitterly accusing him of instigating Alençon and Navarre to rebel. Elizabeth, as usual, threw the whole responsibility on her agent; and in August sent Wilkes back to Catherine with an order ‘to clear himself or never see her face again.’ He had an interview with Catherine at Lyons on 7 Sept., and attempted to allay her suspicions. He was allowed to remain in France, though he distrusted Catherine and was alarmed for his safety (ib. Nos. 1540 sqq.; Harl. MS. 1582, f. 13).
In February 1574–5 Wilkes was summoned to England, where, on the 16th, he received ‘letters and instructions to Count Frederick, palatine of the Rhine;’ the object of this secret embassy was to induce the elector to send an army into France in aid of the Huguenots under Condé. He returned in April, but in August was again sent to Heidelberg to accompany the elector's invading army. Before it started Wilkes was requested by the elector and Condé to lay their plans in person before Elizabeth (ib. 1574–7, Nos. 27, 69; Hatfield MSS. ii. 119, 120). Having accomplished this mission, Wilkes returned to Germany and followed the invading army into France, being ‘mounted and armed at his own charge’ (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1591–4, p. 399). He remained with the Huguenot army during its various movements until the conclusion of peace between Catherine and the Huguenots in June 1576 (ib. For. 1574–7, Nos. 801, 811); he then returned to England with the commendations of Condé and Alençon, and on 18 July was sworn one of the four clerks of the privy council (Acts P. C. 1575–7, p. 166). Soon afterwards he was granted the office of queen's printer, which he sold to Christopher Barker [q. v.] (cf. Hatfield MSS. ii. 187).
In December 1577 Wilkes was sent on another important mission; he was to convey to Philip II ‘a clear and simple state-
