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 wi ...

, was his great-grandfather and

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (21 July 169317 November 1768) was a British Whig statesman who served as the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Great Britain, his official life extende ...

, and

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as 3rd Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who ...

his first cousins once removed. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

(1740) and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

(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 tuto ...

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 in 1749, a seat he held until 1754, and then represented

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

until 1768. He served as a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from 1754 to 1761, as a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was n ...

from 1761 to 1762 and as

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...

from 1765 to 1774 and was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

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, titl ...

. 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 The King's Wardrobe, together with the Chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour, and treasure were stored, the term was expanded to des ...

from 1775 to 1782. In 1801 he was created Earl of Chichester. In 1776, Pelham bought the manor of

Falmer Falmer is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, lying between Brighton and Lewes, approximately five miles (8 km) north-east of the former. It is also the site of Brighton & Hove Albion's Falmer ...

from his second cousin once removed,

Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet (1730 – 11 September 1783), of Michelgrove in Sussex, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1751 to 1780. He was the eldest son of Sir John Shelley, 4th Baronet and Margaret Pelham, two of ...

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 A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. Lord Chichester died in January 1805, aged 76, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, 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

Lords of the Admiralty