Thomas Lyon (1741-1796), was a Scottish 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 1768 and 1778. Lyon was the third son of

Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore (1704 – 18 January 1753) was a Scottish nobleman, and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1735, when he resigned upon succeeding to the peerage as Earl of Strathmore. Lyon was bapt ...

and Jean Nicholson, daughter of James Nicholson of West Rainton, co. Durham. He matriculated at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

in 1758 and was awarded MA in 1761. He was a Fellow of the university from 1761 to 1763. Lyon’s father had been MP for

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a p ...

in 1734 which was subsequently held by William Maule. In

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

the Strathmore family put Lyon forward to take back the seat of Forfar from the Panmure family. Lyon also stood as

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

Aberdeen Burghs Aberdeen Burghs was a district of burghs constituency which was represented from 1708 to 1800 in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain, and from 1801 to 1832 in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Cr ...

. After an exhausting struggle Panmure was returned for the Forfar and Lyon for Aberdeen Burghs. As a result, the Strathmore and Panmure families made an agreement to avoid future contests. Lyon was re-elected in MP for Aberdeen Burghs in

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, List of Ottoman Sultans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and f ...

. He married Mary Elizabeth Wren, daughter of Farren Wren of Binchester, co. Durham on 13 June 1774. Lyon’s brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

the 9th Earl died in 1776 and Lyon as sole surviving uncle and one of the guardians of the Strathmore children became deeply involved in financial and legal business. He succeeded his mother to the

Hetton-le-Hole Hetton-le-Hole is a town situated in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. It is in the historic county of Durham. A182 runs through the town, between Houghton-le-Spring and Easington Lane (the latter borders the County Durham Distri ...

estate in Durham on 22 April 1778 and vacated his seat at the opening of the autumn session of 1778. Lyon and his son John believed there was good coal under the Hetton estate and carried out prospecting from the 1770s.Engineering Timelines Hetton Colliery Railway
/ref> Lyon died on 13 September 1796.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Thomas 1741 births 1796 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Younger sons of earls Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies