Sir Thomas Scawen (c. 1650 – 22 September 1730) was a British merchant, financier and Whig 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 1708 and 1722. He was

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

from 1721 to 1723.

Early life

Scawen was a younger son of Robert Scawen of

Horton, Buckinghamshire Horton is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the parish of Ivinghoe, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Slapton, Buckinghamshire, Slapton. The name ''Horton (disambiguation), Horton'' is a common one in England. It derives fro ...

and his wife Catherine Alsop, daughter of Cavendish Alsop, merchant of London. He married Martha Wessell, the daughter of Abraham Wessell, a London merchant, on 8 September 1691.

Career

Like his brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, Scawen was a successful London merchant. He was an Apprentice of the Fishmongers’ Company in 1671, a freeman in 1679, and a liveryman in 1685. In 1699 he was a member of the Russia Company. He was an assistant at the Fishmonger's Company in 1704 and was a director of the Bank of England from 1705 to 1719. At the 1708 British general election he was returned unopposed 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

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

. He was also Prime Warden of the Fishmongers’ Company from 1708 to 1710. In Parliament, he supported the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709, and voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. He did not stand at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

. On 29 January 1712, he was elected an alderman for Cornhill, London. He was knighted on 25 September 1714. At the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

, Scawen was elected MP for

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. From 1719, he was a Director of the Bank of England until 1721 when he became Governor of the Bank of England. In 1722 he inherited the manor of Horton from his brother William. The remainder of William's estates passed to Thomas's eldest son, also

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 A ...

. From 1723 to his death, Scawen was a Deputy Governor.

Death and legacy

Scawen died on 22 September 1730 at Carshalton, and was buried at Horton, Buckinghamshire. He and his wife had five sons and four daughters. He left Horton to his eldest son, Thomas, who married a daughter of Hon. James Russell, and was the father of

James Scawen James Scawen (1734–1801) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1780. Scawen was the son of Thomas Scawen MP and his wife Tryphena Russell, daughter of Lord James Russell of Maidwell, Northamptonshire. Scawen's ...

, MP for Surrey. The remainder of his properties went to his younger sons. His daughter Catherine married Sir John Shelley, 4th Baronet and other daughters married John Trenchard and Sir Nathaniel Mead.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scawen, Thomas Year of birth unknown 1730 deaths British merchants Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1715–1722 Deputy Governors of the Bank of England Governors of the Bank of England Year of birth uncertain