Thomas Alcock (19 August 1801 – 22 August 1866) was a British Member of Parliament for 24 years non-consecutively, a progressive Liberal on questions of expansion of the popular ballot he was also an established church benefactor. Alcock was born in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, son of Joseph Alcock of Roehampton then in the same parish. His father, a clerk at the Treasury, was a nephew of Sir Joseph Mawbey. Thomas siblings included Maria, who was married to the Reverend Brymer Belcher, and Letitia who married Charles Parke of

Henbury, Dorset Henbury is a hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Sturminster Marshall in Dorset, England. It lies on the A31 road. Henbury House is a classical Georgian architecture, Georgian house built in 1770. In the 19th century the estate was ...

. Two brothers, Joseph and John predeceased him. He was schooled at Harrow and served briefly in the 1st Dragoon Guards and then in the 24th Dragoons on half-pay before retiring in 1832. In 1828-9 he travelled in Russia, Turkey, Persia and Greece, and later had an account of his travels privately printed. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

of Newton, Lancashire between 1826 and 1830, and after the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

, sat for

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

, Shropshire from 1839 to 1840, and having lost elections such as the 1841 East Surrey by-election served that seat from 1847 to 1865. He was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey for 1837. Alcock was politically progressive and in favour of extending the franchise. He spent more than £40,000 on building churches, parsonages and schools, and the endowment of churches, in Surrey and Lincolnshire. He was a strong advocate for the preservation of commons and open spaces for the use and recreation of the public, and published a pamphlet on the subject in 1845. He was also responsible for extensively remodelling the mansion of Kingswood Warren in Surrey, to the designs of the architect T.R. Knowles. He died on 22 August 1866 at

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the civil parish of Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, in the Malvern Hills District, Malvern Hills district, in the county of Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of O ...

, Worcestershire, aged 65. His probate was resworn May 1892, under £90,000, implying he left at least .https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk Calendar of Probates and Administrations

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Thomas 1801 births 1866 deaths UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire High sheriffs of Surrey People educated at Harrow School