Thomas Blount or Blunt (born ca. 1604) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament and inventor.

Life

He was born in Wricklesmarsh, in Charlton, Kent, the second son of Edward Blount of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and his second wife, Fortune, daughter of Sir William Garway. Blount was educated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

where he matriculated in 1623. He was admitted to Grays Inn in 1624. He was present at the meetings of

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

country gentlemen at Maidstone, which resulted in the getting up the Kentish petition of March 1642, and turned informer, giving an account of the proceedings in evidence at the bar of the House of Commons. He was a colonel in the Parliamentary Army during the Civil War. On the Restoration of the monarchy he was imprisoned but subsequently released. He represented

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

as an MP in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the ins ...

of 1653. He was a highly ingenious man and knew many of the Fellows of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He was himself admitted as a Fellow in February 1665 but resigned in 1668. He constructed with his own hands a carriage with an improved action, "for the ease of both man and horse", which attracted considerable attention at the time, and is often mentioned by

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

. Both Pepys and his contemporary diarist

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...

tell us of the colonel's experiments and inventions at his stately seat at Charlton: his vineyard, the wine of which was "good for little", new-invented ploughs, and subterranean warren. He was among the first to fit a way-wiser, or

odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...

, to a carriage.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blount, Thomas People from Charlton, London English inventors Fellows of the Royal Society English MPs 1653 (Barebones) Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Members of Gray's Inn 1600s births Year of death missing Roundheads Place of birth missing