WHICHCOT, Thomas (?1700-76), of Harpswell, Lincs.

Whichcot, whose family had been settled at Harpswell since the early sixteenth century and whose father had represented Lincolnshire 1698-1700 and 1705-10, was returned for the county in 1740 as an independent Whig. Though opposing the motion for the removal of Walpole in February 1741, he voted with the Opposition till 1744, when he went over to the Government, speaking and voting in favour of the Hanoverians on 18 Jan.19 Jan. 1744, Hartington to Devonshire, Devonshire mss. Classed as a government supporter in 1747, he is described in the 2nd Lord Egmont’s electoral survey c.1749-50 as to be ‘routed for he is a dangler after Pelham’. On 26 Mar. 1753 he spoke against a bill to permit the export of Irish wool. He died 30 Sept. 1776.