Thomas Walker (c. 1664–1748), of Wimbledon, Surrey, was a British 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 1733 and 1747. Walker was probably the son of Edward Walker of St Sepulchre's, London, and his wife Susanna Winchurst. He became immensely wealthy, probably as a money lender. In November 1714, Walker was appointed Commissioner of Customs. He changed the post for that of Surveyor General of crown lands in October 1731, as the latter post did not disqualify him from sitting in the House of Commons. He went first into Parliament at the age of 69. He was returned unopposed 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

West Looe West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

as a government nominee at a by-election on 26 January 1733. He made his only known speech in 1733, when as a former commissioner of customs he defended the then commissioners against attacks on them by the Opposition. He did not stand at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

but was returned unopposed as MP for

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Pl ...

at a by-election on 21 February 1735. At the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

he was returned unopposed as MP for

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

. He did not stand in 1747. Walker bought the Old Park estate in Wimbledon in 1738 and probably lived at Westside House.The Museum of Wimbledon
/ref> He died unmarried on 22 October 1748, aged 84 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's Wimbledon.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

called him "a kind of toad-eater to Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Godolphin". He went frequently to the races at Newmarket, and was considered a notorious usurer.

References

1660s births 1748 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Plympton Erle {{UK-politician-stub