Luttrell, Thomas (c.1490–1554), chief justice of the common pleas, was son of Richard Luttrell, of Luttrellstown near Dublin city, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Patrick Fitzlyon. Appointed solicitor general and king's sergeant in Ireland in September 1532, he was one of a small group of closely related and mostly professional Anglo-Irishmen who were dissatisfied with the dominant position of the earl of Kildare (qv), wished to see the reform of the Irish administration, and were patronized by Thomas Cromwell in his bid to introduce changes in Ireland. The policy was initiated with a reshuffle of administrative officers in the course of 1534 when Patrick Finglas (qv) was appointed chief justice of the king’s bench, Sir Gerard Aylmer (qv) (Luttrell's brother-in-law) chief baron of the exchequer, Sir Thomas Cusack (qv) chancellor of the exchequer, and Thomas Luttrell chief justice of common pleas (a. 17 October 1534). Luttrell was succeeded as solicitor general and king's sergeant by another brother-in-law, Patrick Barnewall (qv).
Luttrell, who had been briefly held captive by the rebel forces led by Thomas Fitzgerald (qv) in the summer of that year, was an able lawyer who became an active member of the Irish council and, on at least one occasion, in 1538, acted as interpreter for Lord Deputy Grey (qv) in negotiations with the Irish. When objections to Grey's apparent leanings towards the Geraldines led to the appointment of a commission presided over by Sir Anthony St Leger (qv) in 1537, Luttrell was one of those called on to give evidence. He presented his testimony in a treatise on the government of Ireland in which he presented what were, in effect, the policy proposals of Grey's opponents: the suppression of the exaction of coyne and livery in the Pale, the imposition of English laws and customs, the appointment of chief governors of English birth with a long tenure of office, and the subduing of the Kavanaghs, O'Tooles, and O'Byrnes. Luttrell was knighted in 1539.
When St Leger returned to Ireland as lord deputy, Luttrell's compliance with his policies was reflected in the generous share that he received of the spoils generated by the dissolution of the monasteries. He had already profited from the religious houses before the dissolution, receiving an annual retainer from two, Bective abbey and St Peter's, Trim, and leasing lands owned by St Mary's abbey in Dublin. In 1541 he served on a commission of inquiry into monastic property. In the following year he received patents for all or part of the property of six monasteries, three in Dublin and three in Kildare, four of them by purchase, one by lease and one in fee farm, all at significant undervaluations. Luttrell was in England when King Edward died and signed the letter to the lord justice, Sir Gerald Aylmer, ordering the proclamation of Queen Mary. He was subsequently confirmed in his office but died in 1554 and was buried in the ancestral tomb at Clonsilla with the full rites of the catholic church.
He married first (c.1506) Anne, daughter of Bartholomew Aylmer, of Lyons; secondly Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Bathe, of Rathfeigh. He had seven sons and three daughters. His heir Christopher died two years later and his second son James in the following year: the estate thus passed to the third son, Simon, from whom the subsequent owners were descended. Luttrell's wealth may be gauged by the crown's application to his executors for a loan of £6,000.