Thomas Mansel, 1st Baron Mansel

Mansel was the son of Sir Edward Mansel, 4th Baronet, of Margam Abbey, Glamorgan, Wales, sometime Member of Parliament for Glamorganshire, and his wife Martha Carne. Mansel's great-grandfather was Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester.[1] He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, and graduated with a B.A. in 1686 and by 1699 he was awarded his Master of Arts.[2] On 18 May 1686 he married Martha Millington, daughter of Francis Millington, merchant, of London and Newick Place, Sussex.[1]

In 1689 Mansel ran for, and won the Welsh Parliamentary seat of Cardiff, as a Tory MP.[3] Although Mansel held the seat until 1698, it wasn't until he won the seat of Glamorgan in 1699 that he began to gain higher political offices. In 1701 he held the office of High Sheriff of Glamorgan. In 1704 he was given the post of Vice-Admiral of South Wales and the same year he was appointed Comptroller of the Household to Queen Anne, a position he held until 1708. Whilst Comptroller of the Household, Mansel was invested as a Privy Council. On the death of his father on 17 November 1706, he succeeded to the baronetcy.[1] From 1710 to 1711 he was a Commissioner of the Treasury. On 1 January 1712, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mansel of Margam, and vacated his seat in the House of Commons to sit in the House of Lords. From 1712 to 1714, he was Teller of the Exchequer.[4]

Mansel died on 10 December 1723 and was buried at Margam.[3] He and his wife had six children, including Robert Mansel (1695–1723), MP (who predeceased his father by a few months), Christopher Mansel, 3rd Baron Mansel and Bussy Mansel, 4th Baron Mansel.

• Welsh Biography Online