18th/19th-century British politician
Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester
PC
,
PC (Ire)
,
FRS
(28 April 1756 ? 4 July 1826), styled
The Honourable Thomas Pelham
from 1768 until 1783,
The Right Honourable Thomas Pelham
from 1783 to 1801, and then known as
Lord Pelham
until 1805, was a British
Whig
politician. He notably held office as
Home Secretary
under
Henry Addington
from 1801 to 1803.
Background and education
[
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]
Chichester was the eldest son of
Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester
, and his wife Anne, daughter of Frederick Meinhardt Frankland. The Right Reverend
George Pelham
was his younger brother. He was educated at
Westminster
and
Clare College, Cambridge
.
[1]
Political career
[
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]
Pelham was commissioned as a
captain
in the
Sussex Militia
when it was raised by the
Duke of Richmond
in June 1778, and was subsequently promoted to
major
and
lieutenant-colonel
, frequently deputising in command for Richmond. During the summer of 1780 the regiment was at
Ranmore Camp
near
Dorking
in
Surrey
, close enough to Sussex for Pelham to stand as a candidate for the county in the general election and to be elected.
[2]
[3]
Chichester was appointed
Surveyor-General of the Ordnance
under the Duke of Richmond as
Master-General of the Ordnance
in
Lord Rockingham's
second ministry (1782), and
Chief Secretary for Ireland
in the coalition ministry of 1783 (when he was also appointed to the
Privy Council of Ireland
). He represented
Carrick
in the
Irish House of Commons
from 1783 to 1790 and
Clogher
from 1795 to 1797. In 1795 he was sworn of the
Privy Council
and became Irish chief secretary under
Pitt's
government, retiring in 1798.
[3]
In the latter year he sat briefly for
Naas
before transferring to
Armagh Borough
, a seat he held only until the next year. He was
Home Secretary
from July 1801 to August 1803 under
Addington
, who made him
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
in 1803. Pelham went out of office in 1804, and in the next year succeeded to the earldom. He was joint-
Postmaster General
from 1807 to 1823, and for the remaining three years of his life Postmaster General.
[3]
Family
[
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]
Lord Chichester married
Lady Mary Henrietta Juliana
, daughter of
Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds
, in 1801. They had four sons and six daughters. Their second son, the Hon.
Frederick Thomas Pelham
, was a naval commander, while their third son, the Right Reverend
John Thomas Pelham
, was
Bishop of Norwich
. Lord Chichester died in July 1826, aged 70, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,
Henry
. His daughter Lady Amelia Rose married Major General Sir
Joshua Jebb
, the Surveyor General of Prisons and designer of
Pentonville Prison
, the 'Model Prison', on 5 September 1854. The Countess of Chichester died in October 1862, aged 86.
His daughter, Lady Lucy Anne Pelham, married
Sir David Dundas
.
[
citation needed
]
References
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]
External links
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