Thomas de Grey (c. 1717–1781) of Merton Hall, Norfolk was an English landowner and Member of Parliament.

Life

He was the eldest surviving son of Thomas de Grey and Elizabeth Windham, daughter of

William Windham William Windham (4 June 1810) was a British Whig politician. Elected to Parliament in 1784, Windham was attached to the remnants of the Rockinghamite faction of Whigs, whose members included his friends Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. ...

of Felbrigg. His brother William de Grey also became an MP. Thomas junior was baptised on 29 September 1717 and attended school in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

before going up to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

in 1735. In 1746 he married Elizabeth Fisher, daughter of Samuel Fisher of Bury St Edmunds — this brought him a considerable estate. In 1765 he also inherited Merton Hall on his father's death. One of the seats for the constituency of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

fell vacant in 1764 when George Townshend succeeded to his father's viscountcy. He recommended that de Grey succeed him and with backing from Townshend's family and the

Walpole family The Walpole family () is a famous English aristocratic family known for their 18th century political influence and for building notable country houses including Houghton Hall. Heads of this family have traditionally been the Earl of Orford. ...

he was returned unopposed. He voted against repealing the Stamp Act in 1766 and against administration on the land tax in 1767, before being returned again for Norfolk in 1768 after a very costly campaign. In 1772 he spoke in favour of the

Royal Marriages Act The Royal Marriages Act 1772 ( 12 Geo. 3. c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages ...

but he became more and more affected by

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

and so before the next general election in 1773 decided not to stand again. He died in 1781, leaving no children. Merton Hall passed to his nephew,

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Baron Walsingham Thomas de Grey, 2nd Baron Walsingham PC (14 July 1748 – 16 January 1818), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1781 when he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Walsingham. He served as Joint Postmaster Genera ...

, son of his brother William.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Grey, Thomas 1710s births 1781 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Norfolk British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774