Sir Thomas Chambers or Chamber (died 1692) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

administrator and factor of the

Honourable 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 ...

who served as the Agent of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

from 1658 to 1661 or 1662. His family background is reported as

Wolsty Wolsty is a small hamlet in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holme Low in Cumbria, England. It is located three-and-a-quarter miles south of Silloth-on-Solway, five miles west of Abbeytown, three-and-a-quarter miles north of the vi ...

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 ...

Tenure as Agent of Madras

As soon as Thomas Chambers became an Agent, he was instructed by the authorities in England to make decisions based on a majority vote and not on his private discretion. In the case of a stalemate, the Agent was allowed to cast the deciding vote.

Later life and family

In 1670 Chambers bought the park and manor of

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton, London, Hampton to the ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, from the heir of

Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington (c. 15791652) was the English lord treasurer and ambassador and leader of the pro-Spanish, pro-Roman Catholic faction in the court of Charles I. Early life He was the fourth son of Philip Cottington of ...

. His son Thomas (1677–1750) married Mary Berkeley, daughter of

Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley, KB, PC, FRS (8 April 1649 – 24 September 1710) was a British nobleman and diplomat, known as Sir Charles Berkeley from 1661 to 1679 and styled Viscount Dursley from 1679 to 1698. Life The son of Geor ...

. In the next generation Mary Chambers, heiress to Sir Thomas, married

Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere Admiral Vere Beauclerk, 1st Baron Vere (14 July 1699 – 21 October 1781), known as Lord Vere Beauclerk until 1750, was a Royal Navy officer, British peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 24 years from 1726 to 1750. After s ...

References

Governors of Madras British East India Company civil servants 17th-century English businesspeople 1692 deaths Year of birth missing {{England-diplomat-stub