Thomas Champion de Crespigny ( – 2 August 1799) was a British lawyer and 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. ...

between 1790 and 1796.

Early life

He was the second son of

Philip Champion de Crespigny Philip Champion de Crespigny (1738–1803) was a British lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1790. He was of Huguenot descent, the son of Philip Champion de Crespigny (1704-1765), proctor of the Admiralty cour ...

and, his first wife, Sarah Cocksedge, a daughter of Thomas Cocksedge of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and Lydia Burgess. After his mother's death, his father remarried three more times. From his father's other marriages, his half-siblings included Eliza Champion de Crespigny (wife of

Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian Lieutenant General Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian (28 July 177520 August 1842), known as Sir Hussey Vivian from 1815 to 1828 and Sir Hussey Vivian, Bt, from 1828 to 1841, was a British cavalry leader from the Vivian family. Early caree ...

).Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

U.S.A. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 4009. His paternal grandfather was

, proctor of the

Admiralty court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

and his uncle, Claude Champion de Crespigny, was made a

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 ...

in 1805. He attended

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1779, obtaining an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

in 1785 and an

LLD Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation#Plural forms, abbrev ...

in 1790.

Career

Crespigny was a civil lawyer. In 1790, he revived his father's interest at

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

in alliance with

William Windham William Windham (4 June 1810) of Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, was a British Whig statesman. Elected to Parliament in 1784, Windham was attached to the remnants of the Rockinghamite faction of Whigs, whose members included his friends Charles J ...

. Crespigny and Windham's nominee, John Hippisley, defeated the ministerial candidates. He was a supporter of the repeal of the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in t ...

in Scotland in April 1791 and voted with the opposition on William Pitt's Russian policy in April 1791 and March 1792. He joined a

Whig club Whig or Whigs may refer to: Parties and factions In the British Isles * Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries ** Whiggism ...

in January 1792. On 27 November 1792 he presented the

Castle Baynard Castle Baynard is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London. Features The ward covers an irregularly shaped area, sometimes likened to a tuning fork, bounded on the east by the wards of Queenhith ...

ward petition against Pitt's measures to curb

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

. He denied Hippisley's allegations that the measure "was obtained by misrepresentation and claimed that Hippisley had done all that he could to frustrate the petition." He did not seek re-election in 1796 and the family interest at Sudbury ended.

Personal life

On 26 March 1798, Champion de Crespigny was married to Augusta Charlotte Thellusson (d. 1853), a daughter of merchant

Peter Thellusson Peter eThellusson (27 June 1735 — 21 July 1797) was a Genevan businessman and banker who settled in London, and became a British subject in 1762. He amassed a fortune through commerce and, when he died in 1797, he owned more than 4,000 acres of ...

and granddaughter of Genevan banker and diplomat Isaac de Thellusson. Among her siblings were Peter Isaac Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham, George Woodford Thellusson, and

Charles Thellusson Charles Thellusson (2 February 1770 – 2 November 1815), was a British merchant, banker and politician. Early life Thellusson was born on 2 February 1770. He was the third son of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy London merchant, and his wife Ann Woodf ...

, who all served as Members of Parliament. Her younger sister, Anne Thellusson, was the wife of Vice-Admiral

William Lukin Vice-Admiral William Lukin, later William Lukin Windham (20 September 1768 – 12 January 1833), was a Royal Navy officer who rose to the rank of Vice Admiral and served with great distinction through the Napoleonic Wars. Eventually he inherit ...

. Before his death, they were the parents of: * Augusta Anne Champion de Crespigny (–1892), who married Col.

Thomas Henry Hastings Davies Thomas Henry Hastings Davies (27 January 1789 – 11 December 1846) was a British Member of Parliament. Davies was educated at the Royal Military College. He joined the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot as an ensign, rising to become a capt ...

Elmley Castle Elmley Castle is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, in England, United Kingdom. It is located on the north side of Bredon Hill 3 miles south east of Pershore in the local government district of Wychavon. Amenities and history It ha ...

, MP for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, who fought with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular and at Waterloo, before 1846. After his death she married Sir John Pakington, Bt, the

Secretary of State for War The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

who was a son of William Russell and Elizabeth Pakington, in 1851. In 1874 he was made

Baron Hampton Baron Hampton, of Hampton Lovett and of Westwood in the County of Worcester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1874 for the Conservative politician Sir John Pakington, 1st Baronet. History John Somerset Pakin ...

and Augusta became Baroness Hampton. Champion de Crespigny died on 2 August 1799. His widow married Sir Joseph Whatley, KCH on 3 February 1827 before her death on 24 July 1853.

References

External links

Champion de Crespigny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crespigny, Philip Champion 1760s births 1799 deaths British MPs 1790–1796 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies