Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Thomas Stanwix (1670 – 14 March 1725) was a British Army officer 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. ...

from 1702 to 1725. He served as

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

Career

Stanwix joined the Army and had become a

captain-lieutenant Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of navies worldwide and formerly in the British Army. Northern Europe Denmark, Norway and Finland The same rank is used in the navies of Denmark (), Norway () and Finl ...

in Hasting's Foot Regiment by 1692.Thomas Stanwix at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In March 1702 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

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor for Carlisle in 1705 and found that his main challenge was stopping the smuggling across the border between

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 Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In 1703, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, Stanwix was present at the Battle of Caia in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. In 1711 he became

. Except from a personal perspective he was unsuccessful as a governor, as his main achievement was to become richer than when he arrived. Observers felt that he should have concentrated on encouraging the Dutch to leave so that the benefits of the

Capture of Gibraltar The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Penins ...

(in 1704) could be directed entirely in Britain's direction. Stanwick was tenacious as even when he was replaced by David Colyear he stayed on as lieutenant-governor for some months. In 1713 Stanwix returned to England and became

Mayor of Carlisle The role of Mayor of Carlisle dates from 1231. Originally the mayor was elected by the Freemen of the borough but since 1835 has been chosen by elected councillors. List of mayors The following were mayors of Carlisle, Cumbria, England: Before ...

for 1715 as well as Deputy Lieutenant of Cumberland, thereby increasing his influence in the Carlisle area. He was a Whig MP who strongly supported

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

. He lost his seat in Carlisle in 1721 when seeking re-election on appointment to office, and instead became MP for Newport (Isle of Wight). He also became

Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull Below is a list of those who have held the office of Governor of Kingston upon Hull: Governors of Kingston upon Hull *1536: John Hallam *1546–1552: Sir Michael Stanhope (beheaded, 1552) *?-1639: Sir John Hotham, 1st Baronet *1639–1641: Sir ...

in 1721 until his death. In the 1722 general election he was defeated at Carlisle but was returned as MP for Yarmouth (Isle of Wight). Stanwix was also

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an ...

from 1714 until 1720. Stanwix died in 1725. He left his estates in Carlisle and Middlesex to his wife, and on her death to his nephew John Roos, on condition that he assumed the surname of Stanwix.

References

1670 births 1725 deaths British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Deputy Lieutenants of Cumberland Governors of Gibraltar Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Mayors of Carlisle, Cumbria English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Suffolk Regiment officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Carlisle {{England-mayor-stub