Sir Thomas Alston, 5th Baronet (23 March 1724 – 18 July 1774) was an English

Baronet 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Namier ''et al.'', ''The House of Commons 1754-1790'', Vol. 3, p.18 Thomas Alston was the eldest son of Sir Rowland Alston, 4th 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 ...

, by his wife, Elizabeth. He was born on 23 March 1724 and baptised at St. James Church, Westminster nearly one month later, 22 April 1724.''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' He was admitted at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

in 1740. From 1747 to 1761 he was MP for

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 ...

. In 1750 he married Catherine Davie Bovey, but separated from her by mutual consent two years later. Confined for a while to a madhouse, he was nevertheless re-elected to Parliament unopposed in 1754.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

reported a sorry appearance 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. ...

in November 1755: "Poor Alston was mad, and spoke ten times to order." On 2 January 1759, he succeeded his father as 5th

. He did not stand for Parliament in 1761. Alston died 18 July 1774, leaving his property ( Odell Castle) to his housekeeper Margaret Lee, through whom it eventually made its way to his illegitimate son Thomas. He was buried at Odell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Thomas, 5th Baronet 1724 births 1774 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of England British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig members of the Parliament of Great Britain People from the Borough of Bedford