Sir Robert George Throckmorton, 8th Baronet (5 December 1800 – 28 June 1862) was an English Whig and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1831 to 1835.

Early life

Throckmorton was born on 5 December 1800 at Queen Street,

Mayfair, London Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in ...

. Throckmorton was the eldest son of William Throckmorton and his wife Frances Gifford, daughter of Thomas Gifford, 22nd of Chillington. The Throckmortons were a prominent

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family, who continued to hear mass at the family home

Coughton Court Coughton Court () is an English Tudor country house, situated on the main road between Studley and Alcester in Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building. The house has a long crenellated façade directly facing the main road, at the cen ...

, Alcester, Warwickshire. In 1826 the family estate at

Molland Molland is a small village, civil parish, dual Civil parishes in England, ecclesiastical parish with Knowstone, located in the foothills of Exmoor in Devon, England. It lies within the North Devon local government district. At the time of the ...

in Devon devolved to Throckmorton when his uncle succeeded to the baronetcy.

Career

The

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

allowed Catholics to hold national office for the first time in almost three hundred years. Throckmorton took advantage of the change in the law to become one of the first Catholic MPs after Daniel O'Connell achieved the feat in 1828 and eventually had Catholic Emancipation signed into law. At the 1831 general election he was elected MP for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, the location of his third country estate, Buckland Park (though it is now in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

). He held the seat until 1835. He also became a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for

. He was

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

in 1843. Throckmorton inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1840 on the death of his uncle Sir Charles Throckmorton, 7th Baronet. He built a new Catholic church at the end of the south drive of

, next to the ruins of the church built by an earlier Throckmorton in the 15th century which was confiscated from the family during the Reformation.

Personal life

On 16 July 1829, Throckmorton was married to Elizabeth Acton, daughter of

Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet Sir John Francis Edward Acton, 6th Baronet (3 June 1736 12 August 1811) was a French-born English gentleman who served as Commander of the naval forces of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and later as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Naples under ...

of Aldenham and Mary Anne Acton. Together, they were the parents of five sons and four daughters, including: * Elizabeth Laura Caroline Throckmorton (d. 1927), who married Hon. Albert Joseph Stourton, son of

Charles Stourton, 19th Baron Stourton Charles Stourton, 19th Baron Stourton (1802–1872) was the son of William Stourton, 18th Baron Stourton and Catherine Weld, daughter of Thomas Weld. He succeeded to the title on his father's death in 1846. The nineteenth Baron married Mary Lucy ...

and Hon. Mary Lucy Clifford (a daughter of the 6th Baron Clifford and granddaughter of the 8th Baron Arundell), in 1866. * Emily Throckmorton (d. 1929), who married Col. Sir Gerald Richard Dease, son of Gerald Dease and Elizabeth ( O'Callaghan) Dease, in 1863.Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. ''Burke's Irish Family Records.''

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

Ltd, 1976, page 132. * Courtenay Throckmorton (1831–1854), who died unmarried. * Mary Elizabeth Throckmorton (1832–1919), a

Lady-in-Waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Elisabeth (born Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria; 24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898), nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and List of Hungarian consorts, Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austri ...

. * Sir Nicholas William George Throckmorton, 9th Baronet (1838–1919), who died unmarried.George Edward Cokayne, editor, ''The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes'' (no date (c. 1900); reprint,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Alan Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 1983), volume II, page 199. * Sir Richard Charles Acton Throckmorton, 10th Baronet (1839–1927), who married Frances Stewart Moore, daughter of Maj. John Arthur Moore (a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the

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

) and Sophia Stewart ( Yates) Moore, in 1866. After her death, he married Florence Helen Brigg, daughter of John Fligg Brigg and Martha Ann Adelaide Lockwood, in 1921. Throckmorton died on 28 June 1862, at the age of 61, at Hereford Street in

Park Lane, London Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

.Townend, Peter. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition.''

Ltd, 1970, page 2643.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Throckmorton, Robert 1800 births 1862 deaths UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1831–1832 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Berkshire Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire Throckmorton, 8th Baronet High sheriffs of Berkshire Politicians from Warwickshire People from Buckland, Oxfordshire

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies