Sir Thomas Miller, 5th

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 ...

(1731 – 4 September 1816), was an English 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. ...

in two periods between 1774 and 1816.

Early life

Miller was the eldest son of Sir John Miller, 4th Baronet of Lavant near

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, and his wife Susan Combe, daughter of Matthew Combe MD of Winchester, and was baptised on 5 May 1731. He entered

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

in 1753. He married firstly Hannah Black, daughter of John Black, alderman of Norwich on 1 June 1762. In 1770, he bought a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

called Froyle Place with the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

Froyle Froyle is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) northeast of Alton. The nearest railway station is 2 miles (3.3 km) east of the village, at Bentley. According to the ...

.Hist. Notes 3
at froyle.com, Retrieved 12 August 2008 He succeeded his father in 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 ...

on 19 April 1772.

Political career

Miller stood unsuccessfully for parliament at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

at the 1768 general election, but was returned as

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 ...

for Lewes at the top of the poll in

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, List of Ottoman Sultans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and f ...

. He did not stand again in

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...

. Miller was out of Parliament for the next 26 years, but maintained his political interest by joining the Whig Club on 4 April 1785 and

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on 20 May 1791. Sometime around 1780 he made a second marriage to Elizabeth Edwards. He moved from Sussex to Hampshire in this time. At the age of 75 Miller was returned unopposed as MP for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on the interest of Sir John Carter at the 1806 general election. He was returned again in

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

and

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

Later life and legacy

Miller died on 21 May 1812. He had two daughters from his first marriage and two sons and three daughters from his second marriage. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Thomas, Sir, 5th Baronet 1731 births 1816 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 People from Froyle