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Sir Thomas Colby, 1st Baronet ( – 23 September 1729) was an English politician who sat in the
/ref> Colby was Navy Commissioner, and sat as Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1724 to 1727, following the death of Sir Thomas Palmer. The constituency was effectively controlled by the Admiralty. For the 1727 general election, he stepped down, at the request of the Whig administration, making way for
William King ''Political and literary anecdotes of his own times''
/ref> The baronetcy became extinct on his death. He was buried with great pomp in the family vault in the parish church. It was thought that he died intestate and there was great controversy about his estate, which was said to be nearly £200,000. He had in fact drafted a will bequeathing his house and property in Kensington to his "Kinsman and namesake Thomas Colby late Clerke of the Cheque of His Majesty's Yard at Portsmouth", but failed to sign or date it. That will was therefore ignored and administration of the estate was granted to his cousin Flewellin Apsley, to be divided among his heirs.
Sir Thomas Colby, 1st Baronet ( – 23 September 1729) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
from 1724 to 1727.
Life
Colby was the son of Philip Colby (1638–92) of Colby House and his wife Elizabeth Flewellin, daughter of William Flewellin. His father became rich in the last years of his life by supplying a considerable amount of clothing to the army of William III. Colby took up residence in Colby House, on the site where Kensington Court Gardens now stands. It was rebuilt to a design byNicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor ( – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects ...
, c.1722. The house was demolished in 1873.
On 21 June 1720, Colby was created a baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
, of Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
in the County of Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. A line of hi ...
. He earned a reputation for great wealth, invested mainly in stocks and was cited as an example of avarice by William King William King may refer to:
Arts
* Willie King (1943–2009), American blues guitarist and singer
* William King (author) (born 1959), British science fiction author and game designer, also known as Bill King
* William King (artist) (1925–2015), ...
, a Jacobite don and satirist.''Colby Court, Kensington House and Kensington Court'', Survey of London: volume 42: Kensington Square to Earl's Court (1986), pp. 55–76. Date accessed: 15 November 2010/ref> Colby was Navy Commissioner, and sat as Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1724 to 1727, following the death of Sir Thomas Palmer. The constituency was effectively controlled by the Admiralty. For the 1727 general election, he stepped down, at the request of the Whig administration, making way for
David Polhill
David Polhill (1674 – 15 January 1754), of Chipstead, Kent, was an English landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1710 and 1754. He was one of the signatories of the Kentish petition in 1701. ...
.
Death and legacy
Colby died a bachelor in September 1729. According to King his death was caused when he got up in the middle of the night in a heavy sweat because he was worried the servants might steal a bottle of port as he had left the key lying around./ref> The baronetcy became extinct on his death. He was buried with great pomp in the family vault in the parish church. It was thought that he died intestate and there was great controversy about his estate, which was said to be nearly £200,000. He had in fact drafted a will bequeathing his house and property in Kensington to his "Kinsman and namesake Thomas Colby late Clerke of the Cheque of His Majesty's Yard at Portsmouth", but failed to sign or date it. That will was therefore ignored and administration of the estate was granted to his cousin Flewellin Apsley, to be divided among his heirs.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colby, Thomas 1670s births 1729 deaths British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain