WHITMORE, Thomas (?1742-95), of Apley, Salop.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

20 Sept. 1771 - 17 Apr. 1795

Family and Education

b. ?1742, s. of Charles Whitmore of Southampton, wine merchant,1 by his w. Mary Kelly; 1st cos. once removed of William Whitmore.  m. (1) June 1770, his cos. Mary (d. 1776), da. and coh. of Sir Thomas Whitmore, M.P., of Apley, 3da.; (2) Jan. 1780, Mary, da. of Capt. Thomas Foley, R.N., of Stockton, Salop, 2s. 1da.  suc. fa. 13 Apr. 1770, and uncle 15 Apr. 1773.

Offices Held

Ensign 9 Ft. 1759, 1 Ft. Gds. 1761; capt. 9 Ft. 1762; maj. 1767; ret. 1773.

Biography

The Whitmores held one seat at Bridgnorth from 1660 to 1870, with a single break from 1710-13; and during 41 of these years they held both seats. Thomas Whitmore, when first returned to Parliament, was expected to support Government.2 His first recorded vote, 6 Feb. 1772, was with the minority for the petition on the 39 Articles—not a party question; and Robinson in his first survey on the royal marriage bill in March 1772 marked him as ‘pro, present’; but in his second survey on 8 Mar. as ‘contra, present’.

By 1774 he had inherited the Apley estate and was his own patron. His election was unopposed. Between 1774 and March 1782 he regularly voted against the Government. In 1780 his return at Bridgnorth was again unopposed, but for some unexplained reason he was also returned for Wenlock, presumably on the Forester interest. He did not vote on Shelburne’s peace preliminaries; was classed by Robinson in March 1783 as ‘country gentleman, doubtful’; did not vote on Fox’s East India bill either; and belonged to the St. Alban’s Tavern group which tried to bring about a union between Pitt and Fox. In the lists of January-March 1784 he was classed as Opposition. At the general election there was a contest at Bridgnorth, avowedly between the other two candidates only. Between 1784 and 1790 Whitmore adhered to Fox. Before 1790 he is not known to have spoken in the House.

He died 17 Apr. 1795, aged 52.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Sir Lewis Namier

Notes

  • 1. Geo. Morris, ‘Shropshire Genealogies’ (Shrewsbury Free Lib. ms. 2792), ex. inf. J. F. A. Mason.
  • 2. Add. 38469, ff. 274, 284.