Sir Thomas Clarges (c 1618 – 4 October 1695) 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. T ...

at various times between 1656 and 1695. He played an important part in bringing about the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.

Origins

Clarges was the son of John Clarges and his wife Anne Leaver. He was an apothecary in London.

William Betham William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

''The Baronetage of England: or The History of the English baronets ..., Volume 2''
/ref> His sister Anne Clarges was the wife of the royalist General

George Monck George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...

, later 1st Duke of Albemarle.

Career

In 1656 Clarges was elected

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 o ...

for the Sheriffdoms of Ross, Sutherland, and Cromarty in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

. In 1659 he was MP for the Boroughs of Banff and Cullen, and Aberdeen and for the Boroughs of Peebles, Selkirk, Jedburgh, Lauder, North Berwick, Dunbar and Haddington in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

.History of Parliament Online - Clarges, Thomas
/ref> When

Richard Cromwell Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who was the second and last Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. On his father's deat ...

became Lord Protector he ordered Clarges to go immediately to Scotland with his letters to George Monck, Clarge's brother-in-law, to obtain Monck's view of his protectorate. Clarges became Monck's main agent as he set about planning the Restoration of the Monarchy. In April 1660 Clarges was elected

for

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

in the Convention Parliament. On 5 May Monck sent Clarges as an envoy to King Charles II at Breda carrying a letter from the general, in an answer to a letter from Charles, and the address of the officers of the army pledging support. Monck also wrote another short letter in his own hand informing Charles that ''"he chose to send Mr. Clarges to him, because he was the only person to be trusted in the nearest concernments and consultations, for his restoration, as one, to whom he desired his majesty to give credit to what he should say on that behalf"''. Clarges was well received and was knighted at Breda in May 1660. In 1666 Clarges was elected MP Southwark in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

and sat until 1679. He was elected MP for

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

in 1679 and sat until 1685. He was elected MP for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

in 1689 and sat until his death in 1695. Clarges was a significant landowner in Mayfair, London, where he had a house in Piccadilly. In 1686, he acquired 15 St James's Square to serve as the London home of the Marchioness de Gouvernet. His properties in Mayfair are commemorated in the name of

Clarges Street Clarges Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London. The street runs from Clarges Mews in the north to Piccadilly in the south. It is crossed by Curzon Street. History Clarges Street was built in the early 18th century and is probabl ...

, which is near

Albemarle Street Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he recei ...

named after the site of the residencei.e.

Clarendon House Clarendon House was a town mansion which stood on Piccadilly in London, England, from the 1660s to the 1680s. It was built for the powerful politician Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, and was the grandest private London residence of its ...

of his nephew

Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle (14 August 1653 – 6 October 1688) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1667 to 1670 when he inherited the Dukedom and sat in the House of Lords. Origins Monc ...

Marriage and children

Clarges married Mary Proctor, daughter of George Proctor of Norwell Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire. They had a son Sir Walter Clarges, 1st Baronet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarges, Thomas 1618 births 1695 deaths Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Oxford Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Year of birth uncertain People from Westminster Cavaliers English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695