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Thomas Anson, FRS (c. 1695 – 30 March 1773) was a British Member of Parliament, traveller and amateur architect from the Anson family.
In 1762 he succeeded to the vast fortune of Spanish treasure amassed by his admiral brother. This enabled him to further indulge his passion for architecture at Shugborough. Anson and another member of the Society of the Diletantti rebuilt the house in the Greek revival style that the pair were championing in England. Anson filled Shugborough with paintings, books and ''objets d'art'', and had Vasalli paint allegories upon the ceilings. The park was strewn with temples and follies, including the mysterious Shepherd's Monument, the Pagoda, Pigeon House and the Tower of the Winds. The park has been described by some as a metaphor for Lord Anson's circumnavigation of the globe. Others contend that it engages aspects of many cultures, both as a tribute to Admiral Anson's voyage, and as a representation of Thomas Anson's interest in syncretic philosophies.
Anson died unmarried in March 1773. The Anson estates were passed on to his nephew, George Adams, who assumed the surname of Anson and was ancestor of the Earls of Lichfield.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Thomas 1690s births 1773 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Lichfield British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Fellows of the Royal Society Thomas
Biography
Anson was the son of William Anson (1656–1720) and Isabella Carrier, sister-in-law to Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield. The family estate was Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire. Admiral George Anson, 1st Baron Anson was his younger brother and along with their cousin, George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, they were taught mathematics and navigation by Isaac Newton's friend, the mathematician William Jones, who was later to propose Anson's membership for theRoyal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1730. Anson went up to St John's College, Oxford, and later studied law at the Inner Temple.
Upon his father's death, Anson abandoned law and began the first of many travels to the continent, as was then the fashion for young men of fortune and taste. In 1732 Anson and his friend the Earl of Sandwich formed a riotous dining-club called the Society of the Dilettanti, which also had the more serious purpose of encouraging study of Greek architecture. In 1740 Thomas briefly joined his brother George on ''The Centurion'', as he and his crew began their circumnavigation of the globe. Anson left them in order to travel to Egypt. This qualified him for the Egyptian Society and the Divan Society, the latter being a wild drinking-club of which Lord Dashwood and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu were avid members.
He was elected to 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 ...
for Lichfield
Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
in 1747, a seat he held until 1770.
In 1748 Anson was sent to Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
by Lord Sandwich with secret correspondence for the Duc de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour. In Paris he bought crayons for his friend the Duchess of Bedford, and his sister-in-law, Lady Anson, sent him a long list of presents she desired.
In 1762 he succeeded to the vast fortune of Spanish treasure amassed by his admiral brother. This enabled him to further indulge his passion for architecture at Shugborough. Anson and another member of the Society of the Diletantti rebuilt the house in the Greek revival style that the pair were championing in England. Anson filled Shugborough with paintings, books and ''objets d'art'', and had Vasalli paint allegories upon the ceilings. The park was strewn with temples and follies, including the mysterious Shepherd's Monument, the Pagoda, Pigeon House and the Tower of the Winds. The park has been described by some as a metaphor for Lord Anson's circumnavigation of the globe. Others contend that it engages aspects of many cultures, both as a tribute to Admiral Anson's voyage, and as a representation of Thomas Anson's interest in syncretic philosophies.
Anson died unmarried in March 1773. The Anson estates were passed on to his nephew, George Adams, who assumed the surname of Anson and was ancestor of the Earls of Lichfield.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anson, Thomas 1690s births 1773 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Lichfield British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Fellows of the Royal Society Thomas