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 * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 1831 to 1835. Throckmorton was the son of William Throckmorton and his wife Frances Gifford, daughter of Thomas Gifford, 22nd of Chillington. The Throckmortons were a prominent Roman Catholic 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 cent ...

, Alcester, Warwickshire. In 1826 the family estate at

Molland Molland is a small village, civil parish, dual 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 2001 Census, the village h ...

in Devon devolved to Throckmorton when his uncle succeeded to the baronetcy.John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain''
/ref> The

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

allowed Catholics to hold national office for the first time in almost three hundred years.Coughton Court, Warwickshire
/ref> 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 ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

). He held the seat until 1835. He also became a JP 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 Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...

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 Coughton Court, 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. Throckmorton died at the age of 61. Throckmorton married 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 F ...

of Aldenham on 16 July 1829.

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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 People 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 '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies {{England-baronet-stub