Sir Thomas Alston, 3rd Baronet (c. 1676 – December 1714) was an English

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 ...

. Thomas Alston was the eldest son of Sir Rowland Alston, 2nd Baronet of

Odell, Bedfordshire Odell is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, north Bedfordshire, England, approximately north-west of Bedford town centre, near the villages of Harrold, Felmersham, Sharnbrook and Carlton. History Roman and Saxon peri ...

and Temperance Crew; the family included

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...

on both sides.David Hayton, 'Alston, Sir Thomas', in Hayton et al, ''The House of Commons 1690-1715, Volume 2'', p. 24 He was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. Alston succeeded his father as Baronet in 1697. From 1698 to 1701 he was MP for

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

: it is unclear with which of the Parliamentary groupings his sympathies lay. He died unmarried, probably in London, in December 1714. "The story that he had wasted his estate and at the time of his death was a prisoner in the Fleet is not borne out by his will, in which the Odell estate and other property in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

was left intact and charged with numerous bequests".

References

1676 births 1714 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 People from the Borough of Bedford {{18thC-England-MP-stub