Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton (19 December 1728 – 2 November 1781), was a British 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 1762 to 1774, when he succeeded to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

Baron Middleton Baron Middleton, of Middleton in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, created in December 1711 for Sir Thomas Willoughby, 2nd Baronet, who had previously represented Nottinghamshire and Newark in Parliament. It wa ...

. Willoughby was the second son of

Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton (4 October 1692 – 31 July 1758), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1727. He succeeded to a barony in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was born the eldest son of Thomas ...

. He was educated at Bury St Edmund's School, and entered

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, in 1745. Willoughby 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

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

at a by-election on 13 December 1762. He was returned unopposed again at the general elections of

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

and 1774. When his brother died on 16 December 1774 he succeeded to the Barony and was called to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He married Georgina, daughter of Evelyn Chadwick of West Leake, Nottinghamshire, in 1770 and lived in the family seat at

Wollaton Park Wollaton Park is a 500 acre park in Nottingham, England, which includes a deer park. It is centred on Wollaton Hall, a classic Elizabethan prodigy house which contains the Nottingham Natural History Museum, with the Nottingham Industrial Museum ...

. They had no children and was succeeded in the barony and estates by his cousin,

Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton (19 December 1726 – 14 June 1800), was an English nobleman, the son of Hon. Thomas Willoughby. He was born at York in 1726 and entered Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1745. He succeeded his father in 1742, ...

References

Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Thomas 4 {{GB-baron-stub