Sir Thomas Spencer, 3rd Baronet (1 January 1639 – 6 March 1685) 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 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 1660 to 1679. Spencer was the son of Sir William Spencer, 2nd Baronet and his wife Constance Lucy, daughter of Sir

Thomas Lucy Sir Thomas Lucy (24 April 15327 July 1600) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1571 and 1585. He was a magistrate in Warwickshire, but is best known for his links to William Shakespeare. As a Protestant activist, he ...

Charlecote Park Charlecote Park () is a grand 16th-century country house, surrounded by its own deer park, on the banks of the River Avon in Charlecote near Wellesbourne, about east of Stratford-upon-Avon and south of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It has ...

and

Alice Spencer Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby (4 May 1559 – 23 January 1637) was an English noblewoman from the Spencer family and noted patron of the arts. Poet Edmund Spenser represented her as "Amaryllis" in his eclogue ''Colin Clouts Come Home Againe'' ...

. He inherited the

baronetcy 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 Yarnton on the death of his father in 1647.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 1'' 1900
/ref> His mother remarried Sir

Edward Smith Ed, Eddie, Edgar, Edward, Edwin, and similar, surnamed Smith, may refer to: Military * Edward H. Smith (sailor) (1889–1961), United States Coast Guard admiral, oceanographer and Arctic explorer * Edward Smith (VC) (1898–1940), English recipien ...

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

, by whom she had two further sons. In 1660, Spencer was elected

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Woodstock in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of ...

and sat until 1679. He was not an active member either in debates in the House or on committees. During the

Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sc ...

he was a firm supporter of Charles II, and welcomed him to

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at the opening of the Parliament of 1681. He sat on the jury which found

Stephen College Stephen College (also Colledge) (c.1635–1681) was an English joiner, activist Protestant, and supporter of the perjury underlying the fabricated Popish Plot. He was tried and executed for high treason, on somewhat dubious evidence, in 1681. Li ...

"the Protestant joiner" guilty of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. History of Parliament Online - Thomas Spencer
/ref> Spencer died of apoplexy at the age of 46 and is buried in the Spencer Chapel at Yarnton parish church under a "noble and curious monument of white marble". Spencer married Jane Garrard, daughter of Sir John Garrard, 2nd Baronet of Lamer, Hertfordshire at St Paul's, Covent Garden on 24 January 1655. They had four daughters but no surviving son, and the baronetcy passed to a cousin. His private life, debauched even by

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration *Restoration ecology ...

standards (he was quite open about living with his mistress, a young lady of good family, with whom he had a daughter), was a subject of much amusement to his neighbours.

References

1639 births 1685 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 Thomas, 3rd Baronet {{17thC-England-MP-stub