Thomas Norton (1684–1748) of Ixworth Abbey,

Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1747. Norton was the son of Colonel William Norton of Wellow, Hampshire and his wife Elizabeth Norton, daughter of Sir Thomas Norton, 1st Baronet of Coventry. In 1696, he succeeded his father. He was educated at Bury Grammar School. In 1708, he succeeded his uncle Major Richard Norton to Ixworth Abbey. He joined the army and was captain and brevet-colonel in the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

in 1710 and was on reserve in March 1714. He married Frances Felton, daughter of Sir Compton Felton, 5th Baronet MP of Playford Hall, Suffolk. 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 ...

, Norton was returned as Whig

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

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

on his own interest with the support of the 1st Earl of Bristol, with whom he was connected by marriage. He was appointed a governor of Chelsea Hospital in 1730 and held the position for the rest of his life. Walpole said of him in 1733 that he never swerved from his Whig principles, nor voted against the Administration. He was returned in

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Province of Georgia, Georgia in North America ...

and

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

and continued to vote with the Government in all recorded divisions. He retired at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

. Norton died without issue on 28 April 1748.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Thomas 1684 births 1748 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 People from Ixworth British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Politicians from Bury St Edmunds Grenadier Guards officers Military personnel from Suffolk 18th-century British Army personnel