Thomas Legh (died 1857)

For other people named Thomas Legh, see Thomas Legh (disambiguation).

William Bradley (1801–1857) – Thomas Legh (1792–1857) – 499989 – National Trust

Thomas Legh FRS (c. 1793 – 8 May 1857) was a politician in England.

Born about 1793 he was the oldest illegitimate son and heir of Thomas Peter Legh. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford.[1]

Thomas Legh travelled after leaving Oxford, he was in Egypt in 1812 and 1813 and published an account of his journey in 1816.[2]

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the rotten borough of Newton in Lancashire from 16 April 1814 (presumably this was the date he came of age), until the borough was disenfranchised at the 1832 general election.[1][3][4]

He married twice, firstly on 14 January 1828 to Ellen Turner (who had previously been abducted at the age of 15). They had one son who predeceased his father and one daughter. Ellen died in childbirth in 1831. His second marriage on 3 October 1843 was to Maud Lowther; they had no children.[1]

In 1830 he was one of the initial proprietors of the Wigan Branch Railway.[a]

Thomas Legh made his nephew, William John Legh, his successor. William later became Baron Newton. Thomas Legh died on 8 May 1857.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ "Local and Personal Act, 11 George IV & 1 William IV, c. lvi:An Act for making and maintaining a Railway from the Borough of Wigan to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the Borough of Newton in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and Collateral Branches to communicate therewith" (PDF). UK Parliament. 29 May 1830. Retrieved 6 April 2020.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Port, M.H. (1986). R. G. Thorne (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790–1820. Vol. 2. History of Parliament Trust. ISBN 978-0-436-52101-0. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. ^ Thomas Legh (1816). Narrative of a journey in Egypt and the country beyond the cataracts. J. Murray.
  3. ^ "Mr Thomas Legh". Hansard 1803–2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. ^ "No. 15499". The London Gazette. 20 July 1802. p. 767.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Newton
1814 – 1832
With: John Ireland Blackburne to 1818
Thomas Claughton 1818–1825
Robert Townsend-Farquhar 1825–1826
Thomas Alcock 1826–1830
Thomas Houldsworth 1830–1832 		Constituency abolished


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