Thomas Thoroton

Last updated August 19, 2019

Thomas Thoroton (c. 1723-–1794), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 25 years between 1757 and 1782.

The House of Commons is the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada and historically was the name of the lower houses of the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Southern Ireland. Roughly equivalent bodies in other countries which were once part of the British Empire include the United States House of Representatives, the Australian House of Representatives, the New Zealand House of Representatives, and India's Lok Sabha.

Early life

Thoroton was the son of Robert Thoroton of Screveton and his wife Mary Levett, daughter of Sir Richard Levett Lord Mayor of London and widow of Abraham Blackborne, merchant of London. He was educated at Westminster School in 1736 and was admitted at Trinity Hall, Cambridge as scholar on 30 December 1741 and at Lincoln's Inn on 22 May 1745.^[1] He became political agent to John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland and married his illegitimate daughter Roosilia Drake in October 1751.^[2]

Screveton is an English parish and village in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, with about 100 inhabitants, increasing to 191 at the 2011 Census. It was formerly in Bingham Rural District and before 1894 in Bingham Wapentake. It is adjacent to Kneeton, Flintham, Hawksworth, Scarrington, Little Green and Car Colston.

Sir Richard Levett, Sheriff, Alderman and Lord Mayor of London, was one of the first directors of the Bank of England, an adventurer with the London East India Company and the proprietor of the trading firm Sir Richard Levett & Company. He had homes at Kew and in London's Cripplegate, close by the Haberdashers Hall. A pioneering British merchant and politician, he counted among his friends and acquaintances Samuel Pepys, Robert Blackborne, John Houblon, physician to the Royal Family and son-in-law Sir Edward Hulse, Lord Mayor Sir William Gore, his brother-in-law Chief Justice Sir John Holt, Robert Hooke, Sir Owen Buckingham, Sir Charles Eyre and others.

The Lord Mayor of London is the City's mayor and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City of London, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powers, rights and privileges, including the title and style The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London.

Political career

Thoroton was returned as Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge in a by-election in 1757. In the 1761 general election he was returned as MP for Newark on Duke of Newcastle’s interest. He was Secretary to the Board of Ordnance from 1763 to 1770. He stood in the 1768 general election contesting Bramber on Granby’s interest. Though defeated in the poll he was seated on petition in 1769. He was returned unopposed at Bramber in 1774 and 1780.^[2] He took a great part in managing the affairs of Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. During the Gordon riots in 1780 he was highly active and rescued several victims from the mob.^[1]

Boroughbridge was a parliamentary borough in Yorkshire from 1553 until 1832, when it was abolished under the Great Reform Act. Throughout its existence it was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. This was the first Parliament chosen after the accession to the throne of King George III. It was also the first election after George III had lifted the conventional proscription on the employment of Tories in government. The King prevented the Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, from using public money to fund the election of Whig candidates, but Newcastle instead simply used his private fortune to ensure that his ministry gained a comfortable majority.

Newark (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885 onwards

Newark is a constituency in Nottinghamshire, England. It is currently represented by Robert Jenrick of the Conservative Party who won the seat in a by-election on 5 June 2014, following the resignation of Patrick Mercer in April 2014.

Later life

In 1789 Thoroton sold his estates at Alfreton and Swanwick, Derbyshire, and purchased Flintham House and land at Flintham, Nottinghamshire, close to Screveton.^[3] He died on 9 May 1794 and was buried at Screveton.^[1]

Flintham is an English village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, seven miles from Newark-on-Trent, opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. Its population was 597 at the 2011 Census. The Ham class minesweeper HMS Flintham was named after the village.

Several of his children were bound up in the affairs of the Dukes of Rutland. His daughter Mary eloped with and married Charles Manners-Sutton Archbishop of Canterbury,^[3] and his son Thomas sat in parliament for Grantham on the Rutland interest between 1802 and 1812.^[4]

Charles Manners-Sutton was a bishop in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828.

Grantham was a Parliamentary constituency in Lincolnshire, England.

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References

1 2 3 "Thoroton, Thomas (THRN741T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
1 2 "THOROTON, Thomas (?1723-94), of Screveton Hall, Notts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
1 2 University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections. Biography of Thomas Thoroton.
↑ "THOROTON, Thomas (1752-1814), of Flintham Hall, nr. Newark, Notts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt Earl of Euston	Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge 1757– 1761 With: Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt	Succeeded by Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt Brice Fisher
Preceded by John Manners Job Staunton Charlton	Member of Parliament for Newark 1761– 1768 With: John Manners	Succeeded by John Manners John Shelley
Preceded by The Lord Winterton Charles Lowndes	Member of Parliament for Bramber 1769– 1782 With: Charles Ambler 1769-1774 Sir Henry Gough1774-1782	Succeeded by Hon. Henry Fitzroy Stanhope Sir Henry Gough

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[CU-1] 1 2 3 "Thoroton, Thomas (THRN741T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[HOP-2] 1 2 "THOROTON, Thomas (?1723-94), of Screveton Hall, Notts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 September 2017.

[Nott-3] 1 2 University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections. Biography of Thomas Thoroton.

[HOPson-4] "THOROTON, Thomas (1752-1814), of Flintham Hall, nr. Newark, Notts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 September 2017.