Thomas Lyttelton, 2nd Baron Lyttelton

Thomas Lyttelton, 2nd Baron Lyttelton[1] (30 January 1744 – 27 November 1779) was an English MP and profligate from the Lyttelton family.

Lord Lyttelton, portrait by Richard Brompton.
St John the Baptist Church, Hagley, memorial to Thomas Lyttelton, 2nd Baron Lyttelton (1744–1779)

Life

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Sometimes dubbed "the wicked Lord Lyttelton"[2] and "bad Lord Lyttelton" to discredit his independence from the political parties and religious dogmas of his era, he was the son of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton and 5th Baronet, and his wife Lucy Fortescue. His mother died when he was two years old. He was talented in his early years, particularly in drawing. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford where he matriculated in 1761,[3] he was also a reader of poetry, his favourite poet being John Milton.

His father, the 1st Lord Lyttelton, held political posts including Privy Councillor, a Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He himself was a good friend of the Prince of Wales, who later became King George III. Lyttelton received his pension through his estranged father, and because of his parentage and ability, he also had a career in public life. He was a Whig MP for Bewdley from 1768 to 1769 and the Chief Justice of the Eyre in 1775, and became a Privy Councillor the same year.

His death was widely reported to have been foreseen by himself three days beforehand; he claimed a bird flew into his room, and told him he had only three days to live.

Family

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Lyttelton married Aphia Witts, but they had no children, so on his death, his barony became extinct. It was recreated in 1794, however, for his successor in the baronetcy, his father's brother Sir William Lyttelton, 7th Baronet.

References

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  • Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (1939), s.v Cobham, Viscount
  • Gerrard, Christine. "Lyttelton, George, first Baron Lyttelton (1709–1773)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17306. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]
  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Notes

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  1. ^ The spelling is occasionally Lyttleton, as in the collected Letters of the Late Lord Lyttleton, Troy, N. Y.: Wright, Goodenow & Stockwell, 1807.
  2. ^ THE LIFE OF THOMAS LORD LYTTELTON, by Thomas Frost. 1876.
  3. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Lyttelton, Thomas" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
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Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bewdley
1768–1769
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Justice in Eyre
north of the Trent

1775–1779
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Baron Lyttelton
1773–1779
Extinct
Baronetage of England
Preceded by Baronet
(of Frankley)
1773–1779
Succeeded by