Thomas Smith (c. 1686–1728), of

South Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison, garrison town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 road, A338 about north of the A303 road, A303 primary ro ...

, Hampshire, was a British landowner 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 1709 and 1728. Smith was the eldest son of John Smith, a leading Whig politician, and his second wife Anne Strickland, daughter of Sir Thomas Strickland of Boynton, Yorkshire. He was appointed to office as Clerk of the Council in extraordinary in March 1706, probably due to his father's influence. In July 1706 he was sent to the

Elector of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...

, with the son of the Earl of Scarbrough, to give their respective fathers' compliments. Smith was returned as

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

Milborne Port Milborne Port is a village, electoral ward and civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,802. The parish includes the hamlets of Milborne Wick and Kingsbury Regis. The vil ...

at a by-election 7 May 1709, probably with the support of the other Member for the borough, Sir Thomas Travell, to whom he may have been related through Travell's mother. He voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710 but his other parliamentary activities are almost impossible to distinguish. At the 1710 election, he transferred to East Looe. He was removed from office, along with his father, in 1712. He voted on 18 June 1713 against the French commerce bill. He did not stand at the 1713 election but returned to Parliament after the accession of George I, when he was classed as a Whig. Smith was returned Whig MP for Eye at the 1715 election on the Cornwallis interest. He voted against the septennial bill and the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts, but for the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland which would have largely halted the ...

. He did not stand at the 1722 election. In 1723 he succeeded his father to the

Tedworth House Tedworth House, also known as South Tidworth House, is a 19th-century country house in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is used by the charity Help for Heroes. The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until ...

estate at South Tidworth. He was brought in for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...

on the Treasury interest at the 1727 election after George II's accession, when he obtained a court office as vice-chamberlain to Queen Caroline 1727. Smith died unmarried on 3 August 1728. The Tedworth estate was inherited by Thomas Assheton of Ashley Hall, Cheshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thomas 1680s births 1728 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1727–1734