Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton (19 December 1728 – 2 November 1781), 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 1762 to 1774, when he succeeded 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 Middleton Baron Middleton, of Middleton in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, created in December 1711 for Sir Thomas Willoughby, 2nd Baronet, who had previously represented Nottinghamshire and Newark in Parliament. It wa ...

. Willoughby was the second son of Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton. He was educated at Bury St Edmund's School, and entered

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, in 1745. Willoughby was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

at a by-election on 13 December 1762. He was returned unopposed again at the general elections of

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Re ...

and

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs ...

. When his brother died on 16 December 1774 he succeeded to the Barony and was called to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He married Georgina, daughter of Evelyn Chadwick of West Leake, Nottinghamshire, in 1770 and lived in the family seat at

Wollaton Park Wollaton Park is a 500 acre park in Nottingham, England, which includes a deer park. It is centred on Wollaton Hall, a classic Elizabethan prodigy house which contains the Nottingham Natural History Museum, with the Nottingham Industrial Museu ...

. They had no children and was succeeded in the barony and estates by his cousin, Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton.

References

Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton, Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Thomas 4 Younger sons of barons {{GB-baron-stub