Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield

Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield PC (20 October 1795 – 18 March 1854), known as Viscount Anson from 1818–31, was a British Whig politician from the Anson family. He served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne as Master of the Buckhounds between 1830 and 1834 and under Melbourne Postmaster General between 1835 and 1841.

The Earl of Lichfield
Master of the Buckhounds
In office
24 November 1830 – 14 November 1834
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl Grey
The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byThe Lord Maryborough
Succeeded byThe Earl of Chesterfield
Postmaster General
In office
22 May 1835 – 30 August 1841
MonarchsWilliam IV
Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byThe Marquess Conyngham
Succeeded byViscount Lowther
Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth
In office
1818–1819
Preceded byEdmund Knowles Lacon
William Loftus
Succeeded byCharles Rumbold
Hon. George Anson
Personal details
Born20 October 1795 (1795-10-20)
Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire, England[1]
Died18 March 1854 (1854-03-19) (aged 58)
Mayfair, London[1]
Political partyWhig
SpouseLouisa Philips (d. 1879)
Children8, including Thomas and Augustus
Parent(s)Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson
Lady Anne Margaret Coke
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Anson family memorial at St Michael and All Angels Church in Colwich

Lichfield's gambling and lavish entertaining got him heavily into debt and he was forced to sell off the entire contents of his Shugborough Hall estate.

Early life

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Anson was the eldest son of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson, and his wife Anne Margaret, daughter of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester. Major-General the Hon. George Anson was his younger brother. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.[1]

Career

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Anson was elected to the House of Commons for Great Yarmouth in June 1818, but had to resign the seat the following month on the death of his father and his succession to viscountcy of Anson.[2] Anson later served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne as Master of the Buckhounds from 1830 to 1834[3] and under Melbourne as Postmaster General from 1835 to 1841. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1830[4] and in 1831 he was created Earl of Lichfield, of Lichfield in the County of Stafford, in William IV's coronation honours.[5]

Military career

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He had joined the part-time Staffordshire Yeomanry as a trooper in 1811 before being appointed captain of the Lichfield Troop on 3 August 1812. He was promoted to major on 27 September 1819 and to lieutenant-colonel and second-in-command on 17 December 1829. The regiment provided the escort when the Duchess of Kent and her daughter Princess Victoria visited him at Shugborough in 1832. He succeeded as lieutenant-colonel commandant of the regiment on 10 April 1833 and commanded it until his death, having served more than 40 years, over 20 of them in command. After his death the regiment erected a memorial to him in Lichfield Cathedral.[6]

Gambling

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Anson was also known for his excessive gambling and lavish entertaining at his Shugborough Hall seat. He also purchased the estate at nearby Ranton, Staffordshire, where he built Abbey House and developed the estate into a great sporting centre. However, his extravagant lifestyle and gambling put him and the family into debts of £600,000 and led to Anson's financial collapse in 1842. The entire contents of Shugborough Hall were sold off to pay for the debts.[7][8][9] Abbey House at Ranton burned down in 1942. The ivy-covered ruins can still be seen.

Personal life

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Louisa Philips, Countess of Lichfield (1800-1879) with two of her children by Sir George Hayter 1832

Lord Lichfield married Louisa Catherine, daughter of Nathaniel Philips, in 1819. They had four sons and four daughters, being:[10]

Lord Lichfield died at his townhouse at 2 Stanhope Street in Mayfair,[1] aged 58, and is buried at St Michael and All Angels Church in Colwich, a short distance from Shugborough Hall.[10] He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Thomas. Lady Lichfield survived him by over 25 years and died in August 1879.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Death of the Earl of Lichfield". The Times. 21 March 1854. p. 10.
  2. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Yardley to Youghal[usurped]
  3. ^ "Index of officers: A | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. ^ leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors 1679-1835[usurped]
  5. ^ "No. 18847". The London Gazette. 10 September 1831. p. 1857.
  6. ^ Capt P.C.G. Webster, The Records of the Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Staffordshire Yeomanry, Lichfield: Lomax, 1870, pp. 89–95, 171–2, 175–6; Appendix.
  7. ^ Michael Raven, A Guide to Staffordshire and the Black Country, 2004, ISBN 0-906114-33-0, p.253
  8. ^ History of Shugborough
  9. ^ Thomas Anson's Library and Art Collection
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Lichfield, Earl of (UK, 1831)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth
1818–1819
With: Charles Edmund Rumbold
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Master of the Buckhounds
1830–1834
Succeeded by
Preceded by Postmaster General
1835–1841
Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant, Staffordshire Yeomanry
1833–1854
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Earl of Lichfield
1831–1854
Succeeded by
Preceded by Viscount Anson
1818–1854