Peter Isaac Thellusson, 1st Baron Rendlesham (13 October 1761 – 16 September 1808), was a British merchant, banker and politician.

Early life

Thelluson was born on 13 October 1761. He was the eldest son of Peter Thellusson, a wealthy

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

merchant, and his wife Ann Woodford, daughter of Matthew Woodford. Among his siblings were Charles Thellusson, MP for

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

, and George Woodford Thellusson, MP for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, Tregony, and

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. His father had emigrated to Britain from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1760 but the Thellusons were originally

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

who fled from France to Geneva after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

. His grandfather, Isaac de Thellusson, became Genevan ambassador at Paris to the Court of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

, where his uncle, George, founded a banking house. After his father's death in July 1797, his considerable estate, including the Brodsworth estate, a large house known as Plaistow Lodge at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

in Kent, and plantations in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

and

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, was embroiled in the Thellusson will case. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

in 1774.

Career

Thellusson took over the thriving family business from his father. Like his father he also became a director of the

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from 1787 to 1806. He also served as Lt.-Col. Commandant of the Rendlesham Volunteers in 1798 and Captain Commandant in 1803. He was returned as a Member of Parliament on a vacancy for Lord Egremont's borough of

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother (Western), River Rother, inland from the English Channel and north of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first reco ...

from 1795 to 1796, for

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from 1796 to 1802. At the general election, he was returned for

Castle Rising Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Castle Rising is located along the course of the River Babingley, separating the village from the lost village of Babingley. The village is located north-east ...

as "a paying guest of the

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's friend Lord Cholmondeley" from 1802 to 1806 and for

Bossiney Bossiney (, meaning ''Kyni's dwelling'') is a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is north-east of the larger village of Tintagel which it adjoins: further north-east are the Rocky Valley and Trethevy. Until 1832 the village, ...

from 1807 to 1808. Thellusson acquired the

Rendlesham Rendlesham is a village and civil parish near Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It was a royal centre of authority for the king of the East Angles. The proximity of the Sutton Hoo ship burial may indicate a connection between Sutton Hoo a ...

estate for £51,400 and invested in

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

stock.

Peerage

As early as January 1795, Theullusson supported William Pitt and earned a reputation as a peerage-hunter. In July 1805 he asked Pitt to "expedite an earlier promise to recommend him for an

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

by invoking the power vested in the crown" by the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

to create one new peer when three Irish titles had become extinct, as they had, so Thellusson claimed, with the deaths of the Earl of Mountrath,

Viscount Bateman Viscount Bateman was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 July 1725 for William Bateman, previously Member of Parliament for Leominster and the son of Sir James Bateman, Lord Mayor of London from 1716 to 1717. He was made Ba ...

and Lord Ross in 1802. While Thellusson was mistaken, because Mountrath's barony passed by special remainder to Charles Henry Coote, upon Baron Holmes's death in 1804, the required three were obtained. While the title was delayed, it was eventually conferred on 1 February 1806 as Baron Rendlesham, of

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

Personal life

On 14 June 1783 Thellusson was married to Elizabeth Eleanor Cornwall, the daughter of John Cornwall, a Russia merchant of Hendon, Middlesex. Together, they were the parents of six sons and one daughter, including: * John Thellusson, 2nd Baron Rendlesham (1785–1832), who married Mary Andalusia Dickens, daughter of Lt.-Gen. Samuel Trevor Dickens, in 1809. After her death, he married Ann Sophia Tatnall, daughter of William Tatnall, in 1816. * Hon. George Thellusson (1791–1813), a Lieutenant in the 11th Dragoons who was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

at the

Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813), a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British, Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese and Spanish Empire, Spanish army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington bro ...

in 1813. * Hon. Caroline Thellusson (1793–1862), who married Charles Crabb Boulton. * William Thellusson, 3rd Baron Rendlesham (1798–1839), the Vicar at Aldenham who married Lucy Pratt, daughter of Edward Roger Pratt, in 1826. * Frederick Thellusson, 4th Baron Rendlesham (1798–1852), who married Elizabeth Charlotte Prescott, daughter of Sir George Prescott, 2nd Baronet, in 1838. * Hon. Edmund Thellusson (1799–1818), who drowned in 1818. * Hon. Arthur Thellusson (1801–1858), who married Caroline Anna Maria Bethell- Codrington, daughter of Christopher Bethell-Codrington and Hon. Caroline Foley (daughter of the 2nd Baron Foley), in 1826.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003: volume 3, page 3317; volume 1, page 1449. Lord Rendlesham, who lived at Rendlesham Hall, died in September 1808, aged only 46, but with a fortune said to be £400,000. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son John.Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

References

External links

*
ESTATE RECORDS OF THE THELLUSSONS, BARONS RENDLESHAM
at

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rendlesham, Peter Thelluson, 1st Baron 1761 births 1808 deaths People educated at Harrow School British bankers Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Thelluson, Peter, 1st Baron Rendle Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs who were granted peerages Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons British merchants