Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth

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Thomas Thynne. Watercolor, around 1675

Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth PC FRS (* 1640 ; † shortly before July 28, 1714 in Longleat ) was an English nobleman and politician .

Origin and youth

Thomas Thynne was the eldest son of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet and of Mary Coventry, daughter of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry . He was baptized on September 8, 1640. His father was from the second marriage of Thomas Thynne of Longleat , on whose death in 1639 he had inherited the family estates in Shropshire and Gloucester , while the family estates in south west England fell to his eldest half-brother James Thynne . In 1641 his father was made Baronet of Caus Castle , during the Civil War he sided with the king as a royalist and was imprisoned for several years until 1652. Thomas attended the Kingston Grammar School in Kingston upon Thames and then received private tuition during the Commonwealth of discharged Anglican clergy such as Thomas Triplett , who also taught him in Oxford , before studying there from April 21, 1657 at Christ Church College . He made friends there with his tutor Thomas Ken , later Bishop of Bath and Wells , and acquired an extensive collection of manuscripts from his former teacher William Burton. Although he left college without a degree, his lifelong interest in coins and manuscripts caught the interest of the Royal Society , which accepted him as a member in 1664.

Parliamentary career

Despite the support of the Duke of York , Thynne's application as MP for Salisbury failed in a 1664 by-election against Edward Hyde, who was supported by Lord Chancellor Clarendon , his father, who was also the city's high steward. In 1666 Thynne was Groom of the Bedchamber of the Duke of York, which he held until 1672. From 1666 to 1669 he was envoy to Sweden. Around 1673 he married Frances Finch (around 1650-1712), a daughter of Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea and Mary Seymour. Through the mediation of Heneage Finch , a cousin of his wife, he became a candidate from Oxford University for a by-election to the House of Commons on January 16, 1674 . With Finch's support and an elaborate election campaign with entertainment for the voters, he was elected by the professors, although they otherwise only elected former members of the university. In the House of Commons he pursued a policy similar to that of his eponymous cousin Thomas Thynne and initially belonged to the opposition under Lord Shaftesbury . However, he was less active than his cousin and made no known attempt to exempt the clergy, which included the university's members, from the hearth tax . As a result, his prospects of being re-elected as a member of the university in the next general election in 1679 were slim. Through his marriage, however, he had acquired extensive real estate at Drayton Bassett in Staffordshire and strong influence on the constituency of the nearby Borough of Tamworth , so that he was elected for Tamworth in both elections in 1679. Shortly thereafter, he also became the city's high steward, a position he held until his death. In the House of Commons, he advocated measures to keep Catholics out of the capital, London, but voted against Shaftesbury's attempts to exclude the Duke of York, who had converted to Catholicism, from the line of succession. On May 21, 1679, he rejected the first Exclusion Bill . For himself he tried in vain to get the office of ambassador of the Levant Company in Turkey.

Legacy of Longleat and rise to peer

After the death of his father on March 6, 1680, he inherited his estate, which brought him an annual income of over £ 4000, and the title of baronet. In addition, he was 1680 Justice of the Peace for Gloucestershire, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Two years later, after the spectacular murder of his cousin Thomas Thynne, he inherited his extensive estates in Somerset and Wiltshire with Longleat House . In Longleat he had a number of rooms redesigned, completed the chapel and had the garden redesigned in the formal baroque style. In 1682 he was Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire and 1684 for Somerset, in addition he took on numerous other offices.

In the General Election of 1681 Tamworth was elected twice after Thynne belatedly announced his candidacy. The question of which member was elected for the brief parliamentary session was no longer clarified. Thereafter, Thynne did not run for the House of Commons, as he was raised to Baron Thynne , of Warminster and Viscount Weymouth on December 11, 1682 in thanks for his steadfast rejection of the Exclusion Bill . Still, he hesitated to take his place as a peer in the House of Lords until 1685 . Although he did not protest against the repeal of the test act by King James II , he rejected the measures that favored Catholicism. On December 11, 1688, he was one of the four envoys who, after the escape of James II. William of Orange in Henley-on-Thames, asked to convene a free parliament. In the House of Lords he advocated a regency, and although he himself took the oath on the new king, he supported oath-takers like his old friend Bishop Ken, whom he gave shelter in Longleat. He himself was a member of the missionary Society for the Propagation of the Gospel founded in 1701 . He remained a staunch Tory and a vocal opponent of the government, rejecting bills like the Triennial Act of 1694 and the electoral regulations of 1697. He was therefore suspected of being a Jacobite , but it is not known whether he was in contact with the exiled ex-King Jacob. In 1696 he lost his offices as Justice of the Peace, but in 1700 he was again Justice of the Peace for Somerset and Wiltshire. Shortly after Queen Anne's accession to the throne , he became a member of the Privy Council in June 1702 , first Lord Commissioner of Trade and Plantations , a position he held until April 1707. In May 1707 he also lost his membership in the Privy Council, but became a member again on March 8, 1712, to he became administrator of the Forest of Dean .

Family and inheritance

His wife died on April 17, 1712, he himself died two years later, shortly before July 28, 1714, presumably in Longleat. He was buried in the family vault at Longbridge Deverill . He and his wife had three sons and a daughter:

In his will, he gave Bishop Ken a pension. His three sons had all died before him and had left no male descendants. Thynne left four granddaughters the stately sum of £ 40,000. When his titles were created, it was decreed that they could also be passed on to the male descendants of his brothers, which is why his great-nephew Thomas , the four-year-old grandson of his brother Henry Frederick , took over the titles and most of the lands in Wiltshire, Somerset, Middlesex and Staffordshire on the condition that he confirm his Anglican faith.

Others

The Weymouth pine was named after him and was first planted in Europe in his Longleat park at the beginning of the 18th century.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Margot Spohn; Roland Spohn: Kosmos Tree Guide Europe. 680 trees, 2600 drawings. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2014. ISBN 978-3-440-14647-7 , p. 268
predecessor Office successor
Henry Thynne Baronet (of Cause Castle)
1680-1714 		Thomas Thynne
New title created Viscount Weymouth
1682-1714 		Thomas Thynne
personal data
SURNAME Thynne, Thomas, 1st Viscount Weymouth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thynne, Thomas, Baronet; Weymouth, Thomas Thynne Viscount; Thynne, Sir Thomas, 2nd Baronet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH baptized September 8, 1640
DATE OF DEATH before July 28, 1714
Place of death Longleat