“Evil be to him who evil thinks thereof”

On the 26^th of August, 1537 Thomas Cromwell was installed as a Knight of
the Order of the Garter in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.  Appointments are made at the Sovereign’s sole discretion. Membership of the Order is limited to
the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales and no more than 24 members, or
Companions.

As the King’s Chief Minister he was second only to the monarch and now as a Knight of the Garter Cromwell had reached the pinnacle of his career. It was astonishing that the son of a Putney alehouse brewer and sometime-blacksmith could even enter the Chapel, let alone be initiated into England’s highest order of chivalry by King Henry VIII.
After their installation members are each assigned a stall in the chapel choir above which his or her heraldic devices are displayed.

A member's sword is placed below a helm which is decorated with a mantling and topped by a crest, coronet or crown. Above this, a member's heraldic banner is flown emblazoned with his or her arms. When Cromwell the blacksmith's son was granted a coat of arms, he adopted the emblem of his former patron Cardinal Wolsey, the Cornish chough; for 10 years after Wolsey's death, the little black birds tweeted defiantly at the Duke of Norfolk and all Wolsey's other antagonists.

Thomas’ membership of the hereditary nobility was now sealed.
His progression in public offices had been rapid: -
1531 - member of the privy council
1532 - Master of Court of Wards and Master of Jewel House
1533 - Chancellor of the Exchequer
1534 - King's Secretary and Master of the Rolls
1535 - Vicar-General
1536 - Lord Privy Seal and Baron Cromwell of Oakham
and now, 1537 - Knight of the Garter and Dean of Wells

His rise from a low-born son of an obscure Putney family had been one of the most stunning in the history of England and to locate that astonishing path we return to Brewhouse Lane, Putney,  in around 1485.

- MacCulloch, D. “Thomas Cromwell, A Thug in a Doublet?”, BBC History Magazine,
March 2013.  http://www.historyextra.com/feature/tudors/thomas-cromwell-thug-doublet

- Bindoff, S.T. ed. “Cromwell, Thomas (by 1485 – 1540), of London.”  The History of Parliament:
The House of Commons 1509 – 1588. The History of Parliament Trust, 1982.
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/cromwell-thomas-1485-1540