Thomas Strangways Horner ( Horner; 1688–1741), of Mells, Somerset and Melbury, Dorset, was a British landowner and Tory 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 ...

between 1713 and 1741. Mells Manor

Horner was baptized on 3 July 1688, the second, but eldest surviving son of George Horner, MP of Mells, Somerset and his wife Elizabeth Fortescue, daughter of Robert Fortescue of Filleigh, Devon. He matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

on 14 May 1705, aged 17. In 1708, he succeeded his father to

Mells Manor Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England, was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century. The house, along with the garden walls ...

. He married Susanna Strangeways, daughter of Thomas Strangways of

Melbury House Melbury House is an English country house in the parish of Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset. The Grade I listed mansion is the home of the Honourable Charlotte Townshend, a major landowner in east Dorset, through her mother, Theresa Fox ...

, Dorset in 1713. Horner was

High Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

for the year 1711 to 1712. In 1713 he became a freeman of Bath. 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 ...

, he was returned unopposed as a Tory Member of Parliament for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. He did not make any impression in Parliament. 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 ...

Horner was returned in a contest as Tory MP for Wells. Shortly after, he was nearly arrested on the discovery of

Wyndham Wyndham may refer to: *Wyndham (name), a surname and given name Places Australia *City of Wyndham, an LGA (local government area) in Victoria * Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, a LGA in Western Australia * Wyndham Important Bird Area, Western Aust ...

's plans for a western rising. He kept his seat in time to vote against the septennial bill, before he was unseated on petition on 30 May 1716. There was a re-election at which he was returned again in a contest on 27 June 1716, but was unseated on petition again on 12 April 1717. Horner did not stand for Wells again. MelburyHouse MelburySampford Dorset

Horner moved out of the Mells Manor house in the village in 1724 and commissioned

Nathaniel Ireson Nathaniel Ireson (1685 – 18 April 1769) was a potter, architect and mason best known for his work around Wincanton in Somerset, England. He was probably born in Ansley, Warwickshire. He rebuilt much of the centre of Wincanton following a fire i ...

to build Park House within Mells Park. In 1726, Horner's wife succeeded to the Strangways Dorset estate of Melbury and he assumed the additional name of Strangways. In 1729 she succeeded to the rest of the Strangways estates on the death of her sister Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton. 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 ...

Horner was returned again unopposed as MP for Somerset. He consistently voted against the Government. He was returned unopposed again 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 ...

and did not stand in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

. In 1736 Horner's wife arranged a clandestine marriage between their only daughter Elizabeth, then 13 years old, and

Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles II, and a politician, who rose from h ...

, who was the brother of her paramour Henry Fox. Horner objected strongly to the match, not only because of the bride's age, but also because of the bridegroom's politics. His two sons predeceased him and when he died on 19 November 1742, his Somerset estates passed to his younger brother and his daughter received only the £7,500 to which she was entitled under her parents’ marriage settlement. However, when her mother died in 1758, she inherited the Dorset properties of the Strangways family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Thomas Strangways 1688 births 1741 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 High sheriffs of Somerset Horner