Thomas Phillips Price (14 June 1844 – 28 June 1932) was a Welsh landowner, mine owner and Liberal politician. Price was the son of the Reverend Canon William Price, vicar of Llanarth. He was educated at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgat ...

from 1854 until December 1858, when he went to

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, and at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

(B.A. 1867, M.A. 1868). When he was 23, his unmarried uncle, Sir Thomas Phillips left him a fortune. He was an active mine owner with a mine at Darran Llanhilleth and in 1863 he sunk a mineshaft at

Ebbw Fach The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River (Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself f ...

. In 1880, Price was elected as MP for North Monmouthshire and held the seat for 10 years. In 1882 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Monmouthshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Monmouthshire, an office which was created in 1536 but not fully settled until 1540. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the shrievalty of Monmouthshire was abolished, and replaced ...

. He was a captain in the Monmouthshire Militia and a JP, living at Triley Court Abergavenny. Kelly's 1884
/ref> He also rented Skreens Park, a large mansion near

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...

which is now demolished. After losing his Parliamentary seat in 1895 he became a county councillor and Justice of the Peace for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. In 1898, he purchased Marks Hall with a fine mansion and deer park. Later he purchased the Villa Capponi, a fine 15th-century villa just outside

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. His second wife suffered ill-health and they spent a large part of the year there. In 1907, in consultation with Sir George Murray of the Treasury and Sir David Prain, director of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

, he made provision in his will to leave the Marks Hall estate to the nation in the interest of agriculture, arboriculture and forestry.Marks Hall Gardens and Arboretum / History
During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Earls Colne Airfield Earls Colne Airfield is a general aviation aerodrome located south-east of the village of Earls Colne, Essex, England. The site was previously RAF Earls Colne, a Royal Air Force station which was primilarly used by the United States Army A ...

was built on the edge of the deer park, and much of the property was requisitioned. By 1949 the mansion was said to be in a dangerous state and it was demolished in 1950.

Family

Price married Frances Anne Rowlett in 1882. She died in 1897 and he married again to Florence Cecilia Konstamm, who had an Italian mother and a brother, Max Konstamm, who was a

King's Councillor Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. Florence died in 1926 and in 1927 Price married for the third time to Mary Elizabeth Swann, his sister's companion who was then 51 to his 83. Price died at the age of 87.

References

1844 births 1932 deaths People educated at Highgate School People educated at Winchester College Alumni of University College, Oxford Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 High Sheriffs of Monmouthshire {{Wales-UK-MP-stub