Thomas Pelham (c. 1705 — 21 December 1737) was a British politician. Trained as a Turkey merchant, he succeeded to the family estates on the death of his brother, and was placed in Parliament on the family interest by his first cousin, the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...

. His alcoholism did not endear him to the electors, and he died of it in 1737.

Biography

The third son of

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

, he was apprenticed at a young age to John Lethieullier, a Turkey merchant in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, from which he got the name of "Turk" Pelham. On 5 February 1725, he married Lethieullier's stepdaughter, Annetta Bridges, by whom he had one son and one daughter: *

Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester PC (28 February 1728 – 8 January 1805), known as the Lord Pelham of Stanmer from 1768 to 1801, was a British Whig politician. Background Pelham was the son of Thomas Pelham and his wife Annetta, daughter ...

(1728—1805) *Henrietta Pelham, married Hon. Richard Temple and then

George Nevill, 1st Earl of Abergavenny George Nevill, 1st Earl of Abergavenny (24 June 1727 – 9 September 1785), known as Lord Bergavenny from 1744 to 1784, was an English peer. He married into a branch of the Pelham family seated at Stanmer and briefly held office as Lord Lieutenan ...

Shortly thereafter, in 1725, he succeeded his elder brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

to the family estates, including

Stanmer House Stanmer House is a Grade I listed mansion set in Stanmer Park west of the village of Falmer and north-east of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The house stands close to Stanmer village and Church, within Stanmer Park. Co ...

, which was in the process of being rebuilt by the French architect Nicholas Dubois. While he declined his cousin, the

's proposal to nominate him for

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

immediately upon his brother's death (Thomas was still abroad at the time), he was brought in at the 1727 election by the Newcastle interest. Newcastle was not satisfied with Thomas, although he was a government supporter, complaining of his drunkenness and "imprudent and extravagant" talk at

when in his cups. He died in 1737 of the effects of alcoholism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelham, Thomas 1700s births 1737 deaths British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs

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 ...