Thomas Henry Clifton (3 March 1845 – 31 March 1880) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life

Clifton was born on 3 March 1845 into a prestigious Lancashire family.Pine, L. G.. ''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 17th edition.''

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952. p. 470. He was the only son of John Talbot Clifton and the Lady Eleanor Cecily Lowther. His father, who succeeded Thomas' grandfather to the Lytham Hall and estate in 1851, was a

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

North Lancashire North Lancashire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was represented by two Members of Parliament. The constituency was created by the Great Reform Act of 1832 by the splitting of Lancas ...

between 1844 and 1847 and died in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1882, two years after his death. His maternal grandparents were the former Lady Lucy Eleanor Sherard (a daughter of

Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough Philip Sherard, 5th Earl of Harborough (10 October 1767 – 10 December 1807), styled Lord Sherard from 1770 to 1799, was a British peer and politician. Early life Sherard was the eldest son of Robert Sherard, 4th Earl of Harborough and his wife ...

) and Col. Hon.

Henry Cecil Lowther Colonel Henry Cecil Lowther, DL, JP (27 July 1790 – 6 December 1867) was an English Conservative politician and an amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1843. His long service in the House of Commons saw him becom ...

of Barleythorpe Hall, MP for

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

(the second son of

William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, KG (29 December 175719 March 1844), also known as Sir William Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Little Preston, from 1788 to 1802, and William Lowther, 2nd Viscount Lowther, from 1802 to 1807, was a British Tory pol ...

). His paternal grandparents were Hatty (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Treves) Clifton and Thomas Joseph Clifton.

Career

Clifton followed his father into politics in 1874 when he was elected Conservative MP for

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

but died shortly before the next general election in 1880. During his life, Clifton was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Lancashire, a Lieutenant in the

1st Regiment of Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated w ...

, and a Lieutenant of the Lancashire Yeomanry Cavalry.

Personal life

On 7 February 1867, he married Madeline Agnew at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

in London. Madeline was one of thirteen children born to the former Lady Mary Arabella Louisa Noel (a daughter of

Charles Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough Charles Noel Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough (2 October 1781 – 10 June 1866), known as Charles Edwardes until 1798, as Charles Noel between 1798 and 1823 and as the Lord Barham between 1823 and 1841, was a British peer and Whig politician. Ear ...

) and

Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet DL (2 January 1818 – 25 March 1892) was a British politician and baronet. Early life Agnew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 2 January 1818 into the Scottish Lowlands Clan Agnew.George Edward Cokayne, editor, ' ...

, MP for

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

. Together they had seven children, including:Townend, Peter. ''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition. 3 volumes.''

: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965-1972. p. 190. * Madeline Edith Clifton (1867–1946), who married her cousin Gerard Cecil Noel (1864–1925), a son of Gerard Noel, MP for

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, and Lady Augusta Mary (the second daughter of Col. Hon.

). He was also the nephew of

Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale Henry Lowther, 3rd Earl of Lonsdale (27 March 1818 – 15 August 1876) was a British nobleman and Conservative politician. Early life Lowther was born on 27 March 1818. He was the eldest son of Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther and Lady Lucy Sherard. ...

and a grandson of

. * John Talbot Clifton (1868–1928), a noted traveller who married Violet Mary, the daughter of William Nelthorpe Beauclerk and granddaughter of the

William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans (18 December 1766 – 17 July 1825) was an English aristocrat. Early life and career William was born on 18 December 1766. He was the second son of Lady Catharine Ponsonby and Aubrey Beauclerk, 5th Duke ...

in 1907. * Cuthbert Clifton (1870–1900), who fought in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

and who died, unmarried, from the effects of sunstroke received in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. * Constance Gertrude Cecil Clifton (1871–1954), who married Capt. Hon. James Frederick Cumming-Bruce, a son of

Thomas Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 5th Baron Thurlow Thomas John Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 5th Baron Thurlow, PC, FRS (5 December 1838 – 12 March 1916), was a British Liberal politician who served as Paymaster-General in 1886. Family Thurlow was the younger son of Edward Thomas Hovell-T ...

and Lady Elma Bruce (a daughter of

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...

), in 1891. After his death, she married, secondly, Brig.-Gen. Edward Boustead Cuthbertson, a son of Thomas Cuthbertson, in 1910. She served as

Woman of the bedchamber In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Ge ...

to Princess Helena (the third daughter and fifth child of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and Prince Albert). * Harry Arthur Clifton (1874–1947), a Lt.-Col. who fought in the Boer War,

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was commander of the

Scottish Horse The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the World War I, First World War, as the 13th Battali ...

; he married Gladys Evans, daughter of Sir Griffith Humphrey Pugh Evans, in 1903. * Frances Victoria Clifton (1876–1960), who married her cousin,

Kenneth Kinnaird, 12th Lord Kinnaird Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

, son of

Arthur Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird (16 February 1847 – 30 January 1923) was a British principal of The Football Association and a leading footballer, considered by some journalists as the first football star. He played in nine F ...

and Mary Alma Victoria Agnew. * Charles Caryl Clifton (1877–1932), a Lt. in the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

who fought in the Mashonaland Campaign, the Boer War, and World War I; he died unmarried. Clifton died on 31 March 1880. He was buried at

St Cuthbert's Church, Lytham St Cuthbert's is an Anglican church in Lytham, Lancashire, England. It was built 1834–1835, replacing a previous church on the same site. It is an active parish church in the Diocese of Blackburn. Since 1971 it has been designated a Grade II* l ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Thomas Henry 1845 births 1880 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880