Thomas Wallace, 1st Baron Wallace, PC,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1768 – 23 February 1844) was an English politician and peer.

Early life

Wallace was born at

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

in 1768, the son of James Wallace (1729–1783), a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

who served as

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General for England and Wales ...

and as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

to George III, and his wife, Elizabeth Simpson, the only daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Simpson Esq., of Carleton Hall,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. He was educated at

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 1777 to 1784. He then studied at Christ Church at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, graduating MA in 1790. Following the death of his father in 1783, he inherited (at age 15) Carleton Hall, which lies near Penrith, Cumbria. In 1793 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Andrew Dalzell, Henry Brougham and Alexander Fraser Tytler. He sold the Carleton estate in 1828 to John Cowper. He then acquired Featherstone Castle near

Haltwhistle Haltwhistle is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, east of Carlisle and west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 3,811 at the 2011 Census. Haltwhistle is the closest community to Hadrian's Wall and to Northum ...

, Northumberland and remodelled it in the 1830s to a Gothic style.

Political career

Wallace was a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Grampound Grampound () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Grampound with Creed, in the Cornwall (district), Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and ...

from 1790 to 1796, for Penryn from 1796 to 1802, for Hindon from 1802 to 1806, for

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

from 1807 to 1812, for Weymouth from 1812 to 1813, for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

from 1813 to 1818 and again for Weymouth from 1818 to 1828. He was

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of lords commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The lords commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

from 1797 to 1800. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1801 and ennobled as Baron Wallace, of Knaresdale in the County of Northumberland, on 2 February 1828. He was a member of the Board of Control from 1807 to 1816 (responsible for overseeing the

British 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 ...

), and

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

from 1818 to 1823. From 1823 to 1827 he was

Master of the Mint Master of the Mint is a title within the Royal Mint given to the most senior person responsible for its operation. It was an office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, between the 16th ...

Personal life

In 1814 Baron Wallace, aged 46, married Lady Jane Hope (1766-1829), Viscountess Melville (widow of

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1791 to 1794 and First Lord of the Admirality from 1804 to 1805. He ...

), daughter of

John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun (7 September 1704 – 12 February 1781) was a Scottish people, Scottish aristocrat. Early life Hope was born on 7 September 1704. He was the son of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone. ...

. Lady Jane died in June 1829. Lady Jane was then 48 and well beyond child-bearing years, even had she been able (she had no children by her first marriage). Lord Wallace survived her by 15 years and died at Featherstone on 23 February 1844. Having no children, the barony died with him.

Arms

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * 1768 births 1844 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Wallace, Thomas Wallace, 1st Baron Wallace Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall 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 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV Lords of the Admiralty {{England-UK-MP-stub