Thomas_Bulkeley,_7th_Viscount_Bulkeley

Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley

Thomas Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley

British politician

Thomas James Bulkeley, 7th Viscount Bulkeley, later Warren-Bulkeley, (12 December 1752 – 3 June 1822) was a Welsh aristocrat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1784 when he was raised to the peerage.

Quick Facts The Right HonourableThe Viscount Bulkeley, Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire ...

Early life

Thomas James Bulkeley was the posthumous son and heir to James Bulkeley, 6th Viscount Bulkeley, who died aged 35 in 1752,[1] and Emma Rowlands, daughter and heiress of Thomas Rowlands of Caerau, Caernarvonshire. In 1760, his mother married Sir Hugh Williams, 8th Baronet, MP for Beaumaris from 1768 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1794.[2] From his mother's second marriage, he had two half-sisters and two half-brothers, including Sir Robert Williams, 9th Baronet.

He was educated as fellow commoner at Jesus College, Oxford, before making the Grand Tour with the Marquess of Buckingham;[3] he gave a copy of Guido Reni's St Michael subduing the Devil, acquired in Rome, to Jesus College chapel.[4]

Career

Like several of his ancestors, Bulkeley became member of parliament for the county of Anglesey, returned in 1774 and 1780.[2] Though he voted against Fox's East India Bill in 1783, he attended a 1784 meeting of the St. Alban's Tavern group of MPs interested in uniting Fox and Pitt. In May 1784 he was created an English peer, Baron Bulkeley, of Beaumaris and had to vacate his seat in the House of Commons.[5]

Bulkeley supported Pitt on the regency question in 1788. He spoke in the Lords on the election treating act in 1796. He opposed the 'Adultery bill' in 1800. In the 1806 impeachment trial of Viscount Melville, Bulkeley voted Melville guilty on the sixth and seventh charges.[3]

Beaumaris Castle

Lord Bulkeley bought Beaumaris Castle from the Crown in 1807 for £735, incorporating it into the park that surrounded his local residence, Baron Hill.[6][7][8] Some of the castle's stones may have been reused in 1829 to build the nearby Beaumaris Gaol.[9]

Personal life

Painting of his wife, Viscountess Bulkeley, as Hebe, by George Romney, c. 1776

On 26 April 1777 he married Elizabeth Harriet Warren, only daughter and heir of Sir George Warren.[2] In 1802 Bulkeley legally changed his name by Royal Licence to Thomas James Warren-Bulkeley.[10]

He died without issue in 1822 in Englefield Green. His estate was inherited by his nephew, Sir Richard Williams, 10th Baronet (the son of his half-brother), who assumed the additional surname of Bulkeley, by Royal licence.[11] His wife died in 1832; her will left property to a relation George Fleming Leicester, under the condition he change his surname to Warren.[12]

Legacy

Bulkeley's memorial in St Mary's, Beaumaris

The chancel north wall of St Mary's and St Nicholas's Church, Beaumaris contains a medieval brass plaque and a monument to Bulkeley.

References

  1. [1]
    Brydges, Sir S. E., A biographical peerage of the empire of Great Britain, 4 vols, 1808-17
  2. [2]
    Thomas, Peter D.G. "BULKELEY, Thomas James, 7th Visct. Bulkeley [I] (1752-1822), of Baron Hill, Anglesey". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. [3]
    Wilson, J., A biographical index to the present House of Lords, 1808
  4. [4]
    Jesus College: The 18th Century Archived 24 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. [5]
    "No. 12541". The London Gazette. 11 May 1784. p. 1.
  6. [6]
    Taylor 2004, p. 17; "Part 2: Significance and Vision" (PDF), Cadw, p. 62, archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2012, retrieved 12 September 2012
  7. [7]
    £735 in 1807 could equate to between £56,000 to £2,600,000 in 2011 terms, depending on the measure used.
  8. [8]
    "Measuring Worth Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1830 to Present", MeasuringWorth, retrieved 12 September 2012
  9. [9]
    Taylor 2004, p. 15
  10. [10]
    "No. 15517". The London Gazette. 25 September 1802. p. 1014.
  11. [11]
    "WILLIAMS BULKELEY, Sir Richard Bulkeley, 10th bt. (1801-1875), of Baron Hill, Anglesey". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  12. [12]
    Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1848. p. 295. Retrieved 2 August 2023.

Sources

  • Taylor, Arnold (2004) [1980], Beaumaris Castle (5th ed.), Cardiff, UK: Cadw, ISBN 1-85760-208-0
More information Parliament of Great Britain, Honorary titles ...
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Thomas_Bulkeley,_7th_Viscount_Bulkeley, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.