Thomas Mansel, 1st Baron Mansel PC (9 November 1667 – 10 December 1723) was a Welsh nobleman and politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1689 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as

Baron Mansel Baron Mansel, of Margam in the County of Glamorgan, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 1 January 1712 for Sir Thomas Mansel, 5th Baronet, previously Member of Parliament for Cardiff and Glamorganshire. His ancestor ...

as one of

Harley's Dozen {{short description, Event in British politics Harley's Dozen were twelve new peerages created in December 1711 by the British Tory government of Robert Harley which was struggling to gain a majority in the Whig-dominated House of Lords. This cam ...

and sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

Mansel was the second and first surviving son of Sir Edward Mansel, 4th Baronet, of

Margam Abbey Margam Abbey () was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales. History The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and was dedicated to ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, Wales, sometime Member of Parliament for

Glamorganshire Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the south of Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying bo ...

, and his wife Martha Carne. Mansel's great-grandfather was

Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (7 November 1642) was an English judge, politician and peer. He is mainly remembered today as the judge who sentenced Sir Walter Raleigh to death. Life He was the 3rd son of Edward Montagu of Boughton and ...

.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage'' 1900
/ref> He received his BA in 1686 from

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

and by 1699 he was awarded his MA from

New Inn Hall, Oxford New Inn Hall was one of the earliest medieval halls of the University of Oxford. It was located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford. History Trilleck's Inn The original building on the site was Trilleck's Inn, a medieval hall or hostel for st ...

. On 18 May 1686 he married Martha Millington, daughter of Francis Millington, merchant, of London and Newick Place, Sussex.

Political career

Mansel won the Welsh seat of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

as a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

MP in the 1689 Parliamentary election. Although he held the seat until 1698, it wasn't until he won the seat of

in 1699 that he began to gain higher political offices. In 1701 he held the office of

High Sheriff of Glamorgan This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires w ...

. In 1714 he was appointed

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

to Queen Anne, a position he held until 1708. Whilst Comptroller of the Household, Mansel was invested as a Privy Council. On the death of his father on 17 November 1706, he succeeded to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and inherited a life interest in the

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry () is a town and Community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a deri ...

estate. On account of the death of his father, as well as the death of his cousin Thomas Mansel II, he was largely inactive in the period 1706 to 1707. From 1710 to 1711 he was a Commissioner of the Treasury. His interests were attracted by 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 ...

and

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...

. On 1 January 1712, he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

of Margam, and vacated his seat in the House of Commons to sit in the

.Holmes, 264; Boyer, Anne Annals, ix. App. p. 60; Jenkins, 69, 150–4, 201; Beaufort mss at Badminton House, Beaufort to James Gunter*, 10 Jan. 1712; Swift Stella, i. 201, 228–9, 245, 247; ii. 464, 524; Hervey Letter Bks. i. 289; J. Steegman, Portraits in Welsh Houses, ii. 113–14; Orig. Pprs. ed. Macpherson, ii. 631; Feiling, 470. From 1712 to 1714, he was

Teller of the Exchequer The Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The Tellers of the Exchequer received any money to be paid into the Exchequer, noted the amount in a book, and sent a copy of the entry, called a Teller's Bill, to ...

and from 1714 to 1715 he was

Vice-Admiral of South Wales The Vice-Admiral of South Wales was responsible for the coastal defence of South Wales. History As a vice-admiral, the post holder was the chief of naval administration for his district. His responsibilities included pressing men for naval serv ...

and Governor of

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

. He also held the office of Chamberlain of South Wales from circa 1714. Mansel reduced his participation in politics in 1715, with a proxy attending Parliament in his stead.

Death and legacy

Mansel died on 10 December 1723 and was buried at Margam. He and his wife had six children. * Robert Mansel MP (1695–1723), who married Anne Shovell, daughter of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell, and predeceased his father by a few months * Mary Mansel (1697–1735), who married John Ivory-Talbot * Christopher Mansel, 3rd Baron Mansel (died 1744) *

Bussy Mansel, 4th Baron Mansel Bussy Mansel, 4th Baron Mansel (sometimes spelled Mansell) (died 29 November 1750) was a Wales, Welsh peer. He succeeded his brother Christopher Mansel, 3rd Baron Mansel, Christopher Mansel as Baron Mansel of Margam Abbey, Margam (or "Margram") ...

(1701–1750), who married firstly Lady Elizabeth Hervey, daughter of

John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was an English Whig politician. John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridg ...

, and secondly Barbara Villiers, daughter of

William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey William Villers, 2nd Earl of Jersey (c. 1682 – 13 July 1721), known as Viscount Villiers from 1697 to 1711, was an English peer and Tory politician from the Villiers family. Biography Jersey was the son of Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey ...

* Martha Mansell Known for his amorous exploits, Mansel was reputed to have had three illegitimate children by Mrs. Catherine Thomas of Margam.

Ancestry

Arms

References

External links

Welsh Biography OnlineHistory of Parrliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansel, Thomas, 1st Baron Mansel 1667 births 1723 deaths 1

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 ...

Peers of Great Britain created by Queen Anne Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Mansel, Thomas, 5th Baronet Members of the Privy Council of England Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Mansel, Thomas, 5th Baronet Mansel, Thomas, 5th Baronet Mansel, Thomas, 5th Baronet Tory MPs (pre-1834) Mansel, Thomas, 5th Baronet High sheriffs of Glamorgan English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707