Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester PC (28 February 1728 – 8 January 1805), known as the Lord Pelham of Stanmer from 1768 to 1801, was a British Whig politician.

Background

Pelham was the son of Thomas Pelham and his wife Annetta, daughter of wealthy merchant George Bridges (d.1714) of Pera, Constantinople by his wife Anetta, a local girl.

Sir John Pelham, 3rd Baronet Sir John Pelham, 3rd Baronet (1623–1703) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament who sat in the Commons between 1645 and 1698. Personal details John Pelham was born in 1623, eldest son of Sir Thomas Pelham, 2nd Baronet, and his ...

, was his great-grandfather and Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, and Henry Pelham his first cousins once removed. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

(1740) and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, 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 Iris ...

(1745) and undertook the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...

through France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany between 1746 and 1750.

Political career

Pelham was elected to 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. ...

for

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

in 1749, a seat he held until 1754, and then represented Sussex until 1768. He served as a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from 1754 to 1761, as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1761 to 1762 and as Comptroller of the Household from 1765 to 1774 and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1765. In 1768 Pelham succeeded his cousin the Duke of Newcastle as second Baron Pelham of Stanmer according to a special remainder in the

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, t ...

. He also inherited the Pelham baronetcy created in 1611. Pelham also served as Surveyor-General of Customs of London from 1773 to 1805 and as the last Keeper of the Great Wardrobe from 1775 to 1782. In 1801 he was created Earl of Chichester. In 1776, Pelham bought the manor of Falmer from his second cousin once removed, Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet.

Family

He succeeded his father in 1737, inheriting the Stanmer Park estate near Lewes, Sussex. Lord Chichester married Anne Frankland, daughter of Frederick Meinhardt Frankland, in 1754. They had three sons and three daughters. All three daughters and one son predeceased him. His third son the Right Reverend the Hon. George Pelham became Bishop of Bristol, Exeter and Lincoln. Lord Chichester died in January 1805, aged 76, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Thomas, who became a prominent politician. Lady Chichester died in 1813.

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * Will of George Bridges in National Archives – PROB 11/543/102 – probated 15 November 1714; George was the son of Richard Bridges of Tytheringon, Gloucestershire and Ann the daughter of George Hanger (d.1688) of Driffield, Gloucestershire and Ann Roberts.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chichester, Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of 1728 births 1805 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Pelham, Thomas British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Earls of Chichester Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Thomas Lords of the Admiralty