Thomas Lewis (c. 1679 – 22 November 1736) of Soberton, Hampshire, was a British Tory and then Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1736.

Life

Lewis was the eldest surviving son of Richard Lewis, MP, of Edington and Corsham, Wiltshire and his wife Mary James. He attended Salisbury School and succeeded his father in 1706, inheriting estates at Corsham in Wiltshire and The Van in Glamorgan. He married firstly Anna Maria Curll, daughter of Sir Walter Curll, 1st Baronet of Soberton. She died in 1709 and he married secondly in February 1710, Elizabeth Turnour of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, with whom he had a daughter. He lived at Soberton, which he inherited by his first marriage. Lewis was returned as a Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for Whitchurch on 5 May 1708, but was unseated on petition on 21 December 1708. At the 1710 British general election, he was returned as MP for

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

. He was then returned for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

. At the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

he was returned as Tory MP for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and was returned again at the 1722 British general election. In 1726 he switched to supporting Walpole's ministry. He became MP for

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

and then for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

. Lewis died on 22 November 1736, leaving his estates, which were heavily encumbered, to his only grandchild, Other Windsor, 4th Earl of Plymouth, with remainder successively to Sir Robert and Horace Walpole. His tomb in Soberton was sculpted by Peter Scheemakers.dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

References

1670s births 1736 deaths British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub