Christopher Tilson (24 January 1670 – 25 August 1742) of St Margaret's, Westminster and

Hampton Poyle Hampton Poyle is a village in the Cherwell valley in Oxfordshire, England, about northeast of Kidlington and about north of the centre of Oxford. It is part of the civil parish of Hampton Gay and Poyle. Hampton Poyle was a separate civil pa ...

, Oxfordshire, was a British Treasury official for over 50 years and a politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1727 to 1734. Tilson was the son of Nathaniel Tilson of London, and grandson of Henry Tilson,

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other b ...

in Ireland. He was educated at St Paul's School. In February 1685 he became Clerk of the Treasury, a post he held for the rest of his life. He became Clerk of Commissioner of appeal in the excise at £100 p.a. in April 1693, and Receiver General of crown land revenues in 1699. Before 1706, he married Mary Humble (died 30 August 1737), daughter of George Humble. He acquired the manor of Hampton Poyle in 1723.TILSON, Christopher (1670-1742), of St. Margaret's, Westminster and Hampton Poyle, Oxon.
''The History of Parliament''. Retrieved 8 October 2018. Tilson's brother was

George Tilson George Tilson (c. 167217 November 1738) was a British civil servant, long-serving Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Office. Tilson was the son of Nathaniel Tilson of London, and grandson of Henry Tilson, Bishop of Elphin. From 1703 to 1706 ...

, under-secretary of state for the northern department from 1710 to 1738. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, Tilson was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

. He voted with the Administration, but did not stand again at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. He was chosen as a director of the

Chelsea Waterworks Company The Chelsea Waterworks Company was a London waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water sup ...

in 1730 and was its deputy governor in 1733. Tilson was questioned on 30 June 1742 by the secret committee of the House of Commons about the expenditure on the secret service during Walpole's tenure at the Treasury. He replied that it was all without account, . . . nor is there any entry in the Treasury of the application of any of these sums of money. Horace Walpole wrote that ‘old Tilson ... was so much tormented’ by the secret committee on Walpole that ‘it turned his brain'. Tilson died on 25 August 1742.

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Members of Parliament for Cricklade 1670 births 1742 deaths Civil servants in HM Treasury Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub