Thomas Chapman (born 1663) of Caldecote, Buckinghamshire was a British lawyer and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1710 and 1727.
Caldecote is a tiny hamlet in the parish of Newport Pagnell in the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Moulsoe.
Chapman was baptized on 20 April 1663, the eldest son of Roger Chapman, attorney of Caldecote and his first wife. Rebecca Catesby, probably daughter of Thomas Catesby of Hardmead, Buckinghamshire. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 5 December 1679 aged 16 and was admitted at Inner Temple in 1680. He married by licence dated 17 July 1682, Elizabeth Goodman of St. Andrew, Holborn. In 1687, he was called to the bar. [1] As Captain Thomas Chapman, he helped to raise the Buckinghamshire militia and in November 1688 marched with them to Northampton to meet William of Orange’s forces under Lord Grey of Ruthin. In 1703 he succeeded to the estates of his father and became a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Buckinghamshire.but was disappointed that his actions during the Revolution had not been rewarded. [2]
Christ Church is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Christ Church is a joint foundation of the college and the cathedral of the Oxford diocese, which serves as the college chapel and whose dean is ex officio the college head.
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these Inns. It is located in the wider Temple area of the capital, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London.
Chapman was elected as Tory Member of Parliament for Buckingham at the 1710 general election. He was very active in Parliament, drafting legislation and managing bills through Parliament. He was elected for Buckingham again in 1713 and continued to be an active Member of Parliament. [2] In 1715 he was defeated at Buckingham. He was brought in by Montague Garrard Drake for Amersham at a by-election on 27 October 1722, but there in no record of his having voted, and he did not stand at the 1727 general election. [3]
Buckingham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by former Conservative MP John Bercow, who later became Speaker of the House of Commons.
Montague Garrard Drake (1692–1728), of Shardeloes, near Amersham, Buckinghamshire was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1728.
Amersham, often spelt as Agmondesham, was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc-vote system.
Chapman sold Caldecote in 1744. It is not known when he died but he left three surviving sons, and three surviving daughters. Browne Willis described him as ‘an excellent justice of the peace, but squandered his estate’, [2]
Browne Willis was an antiquary, author, numismatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708.
