Thomas Saunders (1626 – c. 1670) was an English landowner and 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. ...

in 1660. Saunders was the son of John Saunders of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and Woolstone in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

(the latter now in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

) and his wife Margaret Evelyn, daughter of John Evelyn of Godstone, Surrey. He succeeded his father in 1638 and purchased the estate of

Mongewell Mongewell (first syllable rhymes with ''sponge'') is a village in the civil parish of Crowmarsh, about south of Wallingford in Oxfordshire. Mongewell is on the east bank of the Thames, linked with the west bank at Winterbrook by Winterbrook ...

Park in Oxfordshire, across the River Thames from Wallingford, also in Berkshire (but now in Oxfordshire). In 1660, he was elected

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 Wallingford in a by-election to the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment for Berkshire from August 1660 and for Oxfordshire from 1661. He was J.P. for Oxfordshire from 1661, and for Wallingford and for Berkshire from 1664. History of Parliament Online - Saunders, Thomas
/ref> Saunders died between 25 October 1669 when he made his will and 15 February 1671 when it was proved. Saunders married twice: Firstly to Anne daughter of Thomas Morris of

Great Coxwell Great Coxwell is a village and civil parish southwest of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 2 ...

in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and had two sons and a daughter; Secondly to Anne daughter of John Allen and widow of Dudley Avery, both of Streatley, also in Berkshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Thomas 1626 births 1670 deaths English MPs 1660 People from Reading, Berkshire People from Vale of White Horse (district) People from South Oxfordshire District