Colonel Thomas Myles Sandys (12 May 1837 – 18 October 1911) was a British

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer and Conservative Party 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 1885 to 1911. He was born in

Blackheath, London Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically within the county of Kent, it is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich, London, G ...

, and was the only son of Captain Thomas Sandys of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Following his education at Shrewsbury School, he was commissioned as an officer in the 73rd Bengal Native Infantry, a military unit 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 ...

. After fighting in the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

he exchanged into the 7th (or Royal Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot, part of the regular British Army. He was to serve in the 7th Foot for twenty years, retiring with the rank of captain. Thomas Myles Sandys MP Grave

He moved to the family's ancestral home,

Graythwaite Hall Graythwaite Hall, near Ulverston, Cumbria in the Lake District of England is the home of the Sandys family. One of the more famous members of the family was Edwin Sandys (archbishop), Edwin Sandys, who was Archbishop of York (1576–88) and was ...

, near

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

which was then in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. He had the gardens remodelled by Thomas Hayton Mawson. He continued his association with the armed forces as honorary colonel of the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, a position he held until 1897, and as honorary colonel of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the regiment from April 1902. He was a staunch Protestant, becoming Grand Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge of England and was a deputy lieutenant for the County of Lancashire. In 1852 he leased the mining rights of his land at Roanhead to the Kennedy Brothers. The mines were among the most productive in the area and were worked until 1942. The

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

created the new constituency of

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

, and Sandys was elected as the first Member of Parliament for the seat. He retained the seat at subsequent elections, several times being elected unopposed. He resigned his seat in March 1911. He died later that year, at his London home at 87

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a One-way traffic, one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing r ...

, aged 74. He is buried at

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

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* 1837 births 1911 deaths Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Military personnel from the London Borough of Lewisham Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 People educated at Shrewsbury School Royal Fusiliers officers Loyal Regiment officers British East India Company Army officers People from Blackheath, London Deputy lieutenants of Lancashire British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Burials at Brookwood Cemetery {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1830s-stub