George Woodford Thellusson (2 March 1764 – 30 December 1811), was a British merchant, banker and politician.

Early life

Thelluson was born on 2 March 1764. He was the second son of

Peter Thellusson Peter eThellusson (27 June 1735 — 21 July 1797) was a Genevan businessman and banker who settled in London, and became a British subject in 1762. He amassed a fortune through commerce and, when he died in 1797, he owned more than 4,000 acres of ...

, a wealthy

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

merchant, and his wife Ann Woodford, daughter of Matthew Woodford. Among his siblings were

Peter Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham Peter Isaac Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham (13 October 1761 – 16 September 1808), was a British merchant, banker and politician. Thelluson was the eldest son of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy London merchant who had emigrated to Britain from Fr ...

and

Charles Thellusson Charles Thellusson (2 February 1770 – 2 November 1815), was a British merchant, banker and politician. Early life Thellusson was born on 2 February 1770. He was the third son of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy London merchant, and his wife Ann Woodf ...

, MP for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

. His father had emigrated to Britain from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1760 but the Thellusons were originally

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...

who fled from France to Geneva after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

. His grandfather, Issac de Thellusson, became Genevan ambassador at Paris to the Court of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

, where his uncle, George, founded a banking house. After his father's death in July 1797, his considerable estate, including the Brodsworth estate, a large house known as Plaistow Lodge at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

in Kent, and plantations in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

and

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, was embroiled in the Thellusson will case.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, He was educated at

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia **Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an international ...

and

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in 1774.

Career

A partner in his family's mercantile house, Peter Thellusson and Co., Thellusson signed the London merchants' declaration of loyalty to Pitt's government on 2 December 1795. He was the last of his three brothers to remain active in the family business, taking as his partners his nephew George Thellusson and one William Mitchell of

Serjeant's Inn Serjeant's Inn (formerly Serjeants' Inn) was the legal inn of the Serjeants-at-Law in London. Originally there were two separate societies of Serjeants-at-law: the Fleet Street inn dated from 1443 and the Chancery Lane inn dated from 1416. In 17 ...

. The firm was then known as Thellusson, Nephew & Co. In 1799, he bought

Aldenham Aldenham is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, north-east of Watford and southwest of Radlett. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is one of Hertsmere's 14 conservation areas. The village has eight pre-19th-century listed build ...

and sold it to the trustees of his father's infamous will in 1805. He served as a director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

between 1799 and 1807 and a director of the Imperial Insurance Company from 1803 until his death in 1811.

Political career

"Thellusson was noticed in the House before he obtained a seat there, as chairman of a meeting of claimants on property confiscated in

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

whose memorial to the

Duke of Portland Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

caused controversy in the debates of May and June 1795." He stood for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

in the

1796 British general election The 1796 British general election returned members to serve in the 18th and last House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain. They were summoned before the Union of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The members in office in Gr ...

as "a friend to the constitution" and "a friend to peace". His primary rival was the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Whig reformer

George Tierney George Tierney PC (20 March 1761 – 25 January 1830) was an Irish Whig politician. For much of his career he was in opposition to the governments of William Pitt and Lord Liverpool. From 1818 to 1821 he was Leader of the Opposition in the H ...

, uncle of his younger brother's wife. Thellusson spent heavily, "beat him into third place and promised after his election to support the constitution, though not as 'the servile tool of any administration.'" On inquiry into Tierney's petition, Thellusson was "found guilty of treating offences and his election was declared void" on 11 November 1796. The following day his brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

asked Windham to inform Pitt that "if the family were to incur fresh trouble and expense at the Southwark by-election they required a 'reasonable assurance' of a peerage for their father or himself: otherwise George would leave Tierney to walk over and 'take a quiet seat for a borough in the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

'. The response must have been encouraging for Thellusson contested the by-election against Tierney and was again successful. His second lease on the seat lasted a month before he was unseated on 21 December 1796. Thellusson unsuccessfully contested

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based i ...

at the general election of 1802 and, in August 1804, considered standing for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

on a vacancy, but withdrew. He, instead, exploited the disarray in the affairs of the dying

Richard Barwell Richard Barwell (8 October 1741 – 2 September 1804) was an early trader with the East India Company and amassed one of the largest fortunes in early British India. Barwell was the son of William Barwell, governor of Bengal in 1748, and afterwa ...

to "secure his unopposed return for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village th ...

:in place of one of the sitting Members, Lord Blandford, who was seeking re-election after appointment to office." While he did not obtain a seat in the 1806 Parliament, he stood, and won, with the blessings of the Portland ministry for the borough of

in 1807, serving until his death in 1811.

Personal life

On 30 April 1790, Thellusson was married to Mary Anne Fonnereau, a daughter of

Philip Fonnereau Philip Fonnereau (17 June 1739 – 17 February 1797) was a British merchant and banker, the eldest son of Zachary Philip Fonnereau. He belonged to a wealthy Huguenot merchant family, and was a Director of the Bank of England. Fonnereau serv ...

, MP for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

, and Mary ( Parker) Fonnereau (a daughter of

Armstead Parker Armstead Parker (c.1699–1777) of Burghberry Manor, Peterborough, Northamptonshire was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1734 and 1768. Parker was the only son of Charles Parker MP for Peterborough, and his wife ...

, MP for

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

). Together, they were the parents of two daughters, including: * Marianna Thellusson (died 1852), who died unnmarried. * Georgina Thellusson (–), who married Henry Hoyle Oddie, son of solicitor Henry Hoyle Oddie. Thellusson died on 30 December 1811.

Descendants

Through his daughter Georgina, he was posthumously a grandfather of Henry Oddie (1815–1869), a lawyer, landowner who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

between 1834 and 1836.

References

External links

*
ESTATE RECORDS OF THE THELLUSSONS, BARONS RENDLESHAM
at

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thelluson, George Woodford 1764 births 1811 deaths People educated at Harrow School British bankers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1807–1812