Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet

Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet, often Thomas de Littleton, (3 April 1647 – 31 December 1709), of North Ockendon, Essex and Stoke St. Milborough, Shropshire, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1709. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons of England from 1698 to 1700, and as Treasurer of the Navy until his death.

Biography

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Littleton was the son of Sir Thomas Littleton, 2nd Baronet (died 1681), and his wife and cousin Anne Littleton.[1] He was related to Thomas de Littleton, a 15th-century jurist and legal theorist of the Littleton/Lyttelton family. He matriculated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1665 and was admitted at Inner Temple in 1666. In 1671, he was called to the bar. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy on 12 April 1681. On 6 September 1682, he married Anne Baun (died 1714), daughter of Benjamin Baun alias Baron, of Westcote, Gloucestershire.[2]

Littleton was returned as Member of Parliament for Woodstock at the 1689 English general election.[3] He was Speaker of the House of Commons of England from 1698 to 1700. He was appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1699 and held the post for the rest of his life. At the 1702 English general election he was returned as MP for Castle Rising. At the 1705 English general election he was returned as MP for Chichester. He was returned as MP for Portsmouth at the 1708 British general election.[2]

Upon his death, without issue in 1709 aged 62, the baronetcy expired,[1] but his estate passed to his first cousin Mrs Elizabeth Meynell, the daughter of his uncle Edward Littleton.

Macaulay thus sums up the character of Speaker Littleton and his relations with the Whigs: "He was one of their ablest, most zealous and most steadfast friends; and had been, both in the House of Commons and at the board of treasury, an invaluable second to Montague" (the Earl of Halifax).

References

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  1. ^ a b Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1902), Complete Baronetage volume 2 (1625–1649), vol. 2, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, retrieved 30 July 2019
  2. ^ a b "LITTLETON, alias POYNTZ, Sir Thomas, 3rd Bt. (1647–1709), of North Ockenden, Essex and Stoke St. Milborough, Salop". History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  3. ^ "LITTLETON, alias POYNTZ, Sir Thomas, 3rd Bt. (1647–1710), of North Ockendon, Essex Stoke St. Milborough, Salop". History of Parliament Online (1660–1690). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Woodstock
1689–1702
With: Sir John Doyley 1689–1690
Thomas Wheate 1690–1695
James Bertie 1695–1702
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Castle Rising
1702–1705
With: Horatio Walpole
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Chichester
1705–1707
With: William Elson 1705
Thomas Onslow 1705–1707
Succeeded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Parliament of England
Member of Parliament for Chichester
1707–1708
With: Thomas Onslow
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Portsmouth
1708–1709
With: George Churchill
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of the Navy
1668–1671
Served alongside: Sir Thomas Osborne
Succeeded by
Preceded by Clerk of the Ordnance
1690–1696
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the House of Commons of England
1698–1700
Succeeded by
Preceded by Treasurer of the Navy
1699–1710
Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by Baronet
(of Stoke Milburgh, Suffolk)
1681–1709
Extinct