Thomas Edwards-Freeman (c. 1726–1808) 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 1768 to 1780.

Early life

Edwards Freeman was the eldest son of Walter Edwards of St. Dunstan’s, London, and his wife Mary Freeman, daughter of Richard Freeman of Batsford, Gloucestershire. In March 1742, he succeeded his uncle Richard Freeman in the

Batsford Batsford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village ...

estates and assumed the additional name of Freeman. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, on 3 February 1744, aged 17. He married Elizabeth Reveley, daughter of Henry Reveley of Newby Wisk, Yorkshire on 23 July 1753.

Political career

At the 1768 general election, Edwards Freeman was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, north of the coastal town of Shoreha ...

on the interest of Sir John Honywood, 3rd Baronet to whom he was distantly related. He seems to have acted completely independently in Parliament. In 1769 he became Director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

. He was reelected MP for Lewes unopposed in

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 ...

but did not stand again in

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to all ...

Later life

Edwards Freeman died on 15 February 1808, aged 81. His son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

was also MP for Steyning.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards Freeman, Thomas 1720s births 1808 deaths Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies