Thomas Lewis (c. 1679 – 22 November 1736) of

Soberton Soberton is a village in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England, east of the A32 and a few miles south of the village of Droxford. It appears in the Domesday Book as "Sudbertone" or "Sudbertune". For administration, it is in the Hampshire County C ...

, Hampshire, was a British Tory and then Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1736.

Life

Lewis was the eldest surviving son of

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer * Rich ...

, MP, of Edington and Corsham, Wiltshire and his wife Mary James. He attended

Salisbury School Salisbury School is an all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1901 and located in Salisbury, Connecticut. Its school newspaper is ''The Cupola''. Its mascot is the Crimson Knight. The school's motto is ''Esse quam vider ...

and succeeded his father in 1706, inheriting estates at Corsham in Wiltshire and The Van in Glamorgan. He married firstly Anna Maria Curll, daughter of Sir Walter Curll, 1st Baronet of Soberton. She died in 1709 and he married secondly in February 1710, Elizabeth Turnour of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, with whom he had a daughter. He lived at Soberton, which he inherited by his first marriage. Lewis was returned as a Tory

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 ...

(MP) for Whitchurch on 5 May 1708, but was unseated on petition on 21 December 1708. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, he was returned as MP for

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. He was then returned for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

. At the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

he was returned as Tory MP for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and was returned again at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

. In 1726 he switched to supporting Walpole's ministry. He became MP for

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

and then for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

at the 1734 British general election. Lewis died on 22 November 1736, leaving his estates, which were heavily encumbered, to his only grandchild,

Other Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth Other Lewis Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth (12 May 1731 – 21 April 1771) was a British peer, styled Lord Windsor until 1732. At the age of one, he succeeded his father Other Windsor, 3rd Earl of Plymouth, as Earl of Plymouth. In 1736, his matern ...

, with remainder successively to Sir Robert and Horace Walpole. His tomb in

was sculpted by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

.dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

References

1670s births 1736 deaths British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub