Thomas Powys, 1st Baron Lilford (4 May 1743 – 26 January 1800) 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 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 1774 to 1797 when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

Baron Lilford Baron Lilford, of Lilford in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1797 for Thomas Powys, who had previously represented Northamptonshire in the House of Commons. His grandson, the third Baron, ...

Biography

Powys was the eldest son of Thomas Powys of

Lilford Hall Lilford Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean stately home in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. The 100-room house is located in the eastern part of the county, south of Oundle and north of Thrapston. History It was started in 1495 as a Tudor ...

, Northamptonshire. He attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1755 to 1759 and in 1760 was admitted as fellow-commoner to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. He succeeded his father in 1767 and was appointed was

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

for 1768–69. Powys was elected to the

for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

in 1774, a seat he held until 1797. The latter year he was raised to the peerage as

, of Lilford in the County of Northampton.

Personal life

The family seat was

, first acquired by his great-grandfather, the judge, Thomas Powys. He was the son of Thomas Powys (24 Sep 1719 - 2 Apr 1767), only son heir of his gt-uncle Littleton Powys, and Henrietta Spencer ( - 1771). In 1770 he sold Henley Hall to

Ralph Knight Sir Ralph Knight (1619 – 21 April 1691) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in 1660. He served in the Roundheads, Parliamentary army in the English Civil War. He sold 'the Barrels' ...

, who reconstructed the house. Lord Lilford died in January 1800, aged 56, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son Thomas Powys.Tim Powys-Lybbe (2010) "Thomas Powys Lord Lilford", http://www.tim.ukpub.net/pl_tree/ps01/ps01_141.html Lord Lilford had married Mary, daughter of Galfridus Mann, in 1772 and had six sons and seven daughters. Lady Lilford died in 1823.

Arms

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990 * * 1743 births 1800 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge High sheriffs of Northamptonshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Thomas 1 Peers of Great Britain created by George III People from North Northamptonshire Presidents of the Oxford Union {{GB-baron-stub