Sir Thomas Lighton, 1st Baronet (died 27 April 1805) was an

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

banker and politician.

Biography

Born in

Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...

, County Tyrone, Lighton was the son of a tenant-farmer, John Lighton, and Elizabeth Walker. After working as a trader in Strabane, he travelled to India and became a soldier in the

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 ...

. He was rewarded with a gift of £20,000 by the wife of General Richard Matthews after successfully transporting the General's fortune from India to London. He returned to Ireland and used his money to establish the Lighton, Needham & Shaw Bank in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

alongside Robert Shaw. He held the office of

High Sheriff of County Dublin The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment follo ...

in 1790. Between 1790 and 1797 Lighton sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as the Member of Parliament for

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

. On 1 March 1791 he was created a

baronet 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 Merville in the

Baronetage of Ireland Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

. He represented Carlingford in the Irish Commons from 1798 to 1800.E. M. Johnston-Liik
''MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800''
(Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.102 (Retrieved 5 April 2020). Lighton married Anne Pollock, daughter of William Pollock, on 11 December 1777. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighton, Thomas, 1st Baronet Year of birth unknown 1805 deaths British East India Company people High sheriffs of County Dublin Irish bankers Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Louth constituencies Politicians from County Tyrone Ulster Scots people People from Strabane Businesspeople from County Tyrone