Sir Thomas Stepney, 5th Baronet ( 1668 – 1745) was a Welsh landowner and 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 1717 to 1722. Plas Llanelly 01

Stepney was the only son of Sir John Stepney, 4th Baronet of Prendergast, Pembrokeshire, and his wife Justina Van Dyck, daughter of

Sir Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

the artist. He succeeded to

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 the death of his father in 1681. In 1691, he married Margaret Vaughan, daughter of John Vaughan of Llanelli.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 1'' 1900
/ref> She was co-heiress of a branch of the Vaughan family of Golden Grove, who had been MPs for

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

during the seventeenth century. He was

High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Pembrokeshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibiliti ...

in the year 1696 to 1697, and was

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Pembrokeshire Militia in 1697. pp. 214–5.] In 1714 he decided to build

Llanelly House Llanelly House (also spelled Llanelli House) is one of the most notable historic properties in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales—an excellent example of an early-18th-century Georgian architecture, Georgian town house. It had been described as ...

a town house in

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

.BBC Llanelly House: a perfect example of a Georgian town house
/ref> Stepney was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for Carmarthenshire at a by-election on 23 May 1717. He did not stand again at the 1722 general election or subsequently. Stepney died at the beginning of 1745 and was buried at Llanelli on 19 January 1745, aged 76. He left a son, John, who succeeded him in the baronetcy and two daughters. Llanelly House passed out of the family in time, but in 2011 work was begun to restore the building which is now open to the public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepney, Sit Thomas, 5th Baronet 1660s births 1745 deaths British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of England High sheriffs of Pembrokeshire Pembroke Militia officers Stepney family