Thomas Webb (c. 1663 – 26 March 1734), of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, was an English merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1713. Webb was the son of John Webb, merchant and alderman of Gloucester, and his wife Jane Greville, daughter of Giles Greville of Gloucester. He was a mercer of Gloucester and became progressively freeman of Gloucester in 1685, sheriff for the year 1690 to 1691, alderman in 1695 and

Mayor of Gloucester In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

for the year 1701 to 1702. From 1702 to 1706, he was receiver-general of land tax for Gloucestershire. Webb 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 ...

(MP) for

at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

. He was a very inactive Member in the House, presumably because he was involved in supporting the Tories in local affairs for which he was deemed indispensable. He voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. On the appointment of the Tory ministry he applied to Harley to be restored to his post as receiver-general, which had been taken from him by the Whigs, but to no avail. He was returned for Gloucester 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. ...

with the support of Dr

Knightly Chetwood Knightly Chetwood (also Knightley Chetwood) (born Chetwode, 1650; died Tempsford, 1720) was an Anglican priest, poet, and translator. Life Chetwood was the eldest son of Valentine Chetwood of Chetwood, Buckinghamshire and his wife Mary Shute, d ...

, dean of the city, and the Duke of Beaufort. He was included as a ‘worthy patriot’ who helped to detect the mismanagements of the previous administration, and as one of the ‘Tory patriots’ who voted for the peace. He was also a member of the October Club. He was frequently absent from Parliament because of corporation affairs. In October 1712 he was issued with an Exchequer writ for £27,000 of land tax receipts which he was alleged to be still holding. The allegation was probably Whig ploy to disrupt the Tories’ electoral arrangements, since it was said that the general understanding was that ‘no receiver in England hath made better payments than Alderman Webb'. He was however persuaded to stand down at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

in favour of a wealthier Tory candidate. However promises of good posts, as a reward, never materialized. Webb died unmarried on 26 March 1734, aged 71, and he was buried at St Michael's, Gloucester.

References

1663 births 1734 deaths People from Gloucester Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub