Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham

Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, KB, PC (c. 1695 – 30 September 1770), of Newby, Yorkshire, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1761.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Grantham
KB PC
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded byHenry Pelham
Succeeded byHenry Fox
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office
23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded byThe Earl of Holderness
Succeeded byHenry Fox
Personal details
Born1695
Grantham, England
Died30 September 1770 (aged 74/75)
Cause of deathStroke
Political partyWhig
SpouseFrances Worsley
Children8
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Arms of Robinson: Vert, a chevron between three bucks at gaze or

Early life

Robinson was a younger son of Sir William Robinson, Bt (1655–1736) of Newby-on-Swale, Yorkshire, who was Member of Parliament for York from 1697 to 1722. His elder brother was Rear Admiral Sir Tancred Robinson. He had been a scholar and minor fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Career

Robinson gained his earliest diplomatic experience in Paris.[1] At the 1727 British general election he was returned as Member of Parliament for Thirsk on the Frankland interest, after his eldest brother, for whom the seat had originally been intended, resigned his pretensions to him. He was absent, presumably on account of his diplomatic duties, from all the recorded divisions of that Parliament.[3] After Paris he went to Vienna, where he was English ambassador from 1730 to 1748. During 1741 he sought to make peace between the empress Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great, but in vain, and in 1748 he represented his country at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.[1] He was made a Knight Companion of the Bath in 1742.

Returning to England Robinson sat in parliament for Christchurch from 1749 to 1761. In 1750, he was appointed to the Privy Council.[3]

Southern Secretary
Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years War
Caricature of George Bubb Dodington and Sir Thomas Robinson

In 1754 Robinson was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Leader of the House of Commons by the prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and it was on this occasion that Pitt made the famous remark to Fox, "the duke might as well have sent us his jackboot to lead us." In November 1755 he resigned, and in April 1761 he was created Baron Grantham.[1]

Later career

He was Master of the Great Wardrobe 1749–1754 and again 1755–1760, and was joint Postmaster-General in 1765 and 1766. He died in London on 30 September 1770.[1]

He married Frances, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham, on 13 July 1737, and had two sons and six daughters. He was succeeded in the peerage by his eldest son Thomas.

The town of Grantham, New Hampshire in the United States of America is named after Robinson.

References
  1. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grantham, Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 359.
  2. "Robinson, Thomas (RBN712T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. "ROBINSON, Thomas (1695–1770), of Newby, Yorks". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
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