Thomas More Anglesey

Overview

Duke of Gunfleet and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Father of Louis Anglesey, Earl of Upnor. A senior member of Charles II’s court and the first “A” in Stephenson’s fictional CABAL (Comstock, Anglesey, Bolstrood, Apthorpe, Lewis).

In the Novel

• Book 1 — Mentioned alongside John Comstock as one of the powerful courtiers shaping Restoration politics. Where Comstock handles religious conformity, Anglesey controls the treasury.
• His name — Thomas More — gestures toward the Catholic tradition (Sir Thomas More, martyred by Henry VIII for refusing to accept the break with Rome). His son Upnor’s Francophilic Catholicism isn’t accidental.

What’s real

Entirely fictional. Gunfleet is a real sandbank off the Essex coast, historically used as a naval anchorage — giving the title a plausible sound without corresponding to any real dukedom.