DUNDAS, Hon. Thomas (1795-1873), of Upleatham Hall, Guisborough, Yorks.; Aske Hall, nr. Richmond, Yorks. and 17 Hertford Street, London, Mdx.

Described as ‘firm but courteous in his demeanour to all’, Dundas gave silent but steady support to Whig ministers whilst sitting for Richmond and York, before succeeding as earl of Zetland in 1839, a title which his father, ‘a stalwart Whig’, had received only the previous year.1Freemasons’ magazine and masonic mirror (June-Dec. 1859), 281; HP Commons, 1820-32, iv. 990. The Dundas family held extensive estates in North Yorkshire, and controlled the borough of Richmond, for which Dundas sat, 1818-30, before coming in for York on the Fitzwilliam corporation interest in 1830, and again in 1831.2HP Commons, 1820-32, iv. 995. He sought re-election as a supporter of Grey’s ministry at York in 1832, when he was described as ‘a thorough reformer and redresser of all grievances’. Dundas cited his past record, notably his long-standing support for parliamentary reform – ‘he was a reformer when reform was out of fashion’ – and declared himself in favour of the ‘speedy abolition’ of slavery; reform of the abuses of the Church, which he believed would strengthen it; commutation of tithes; and the abolition of the house and window taxes, and other taxes which pressed on the poor.3York Herald, 15 Dec. 1832. With three Liberals in the field, Dundas polled fourth, behind the lone Conservative. Much had been made of his vote against Edmund Peel’s amendment to secure the rights of resident freemen to the franchise in perpetuity, 30 Aug. 1831, and although he defended this as being in response to what he perceived as an attempt to scupper the progress of the bill, it did not endear him to York’s numerous freemen.4York Herald, 22 Sept. 1832. Dundas blamed his defeat both on this, and on his stance in favour of electoral purity: ‘He had found it to be unpopular to do away with ancient customs all at once, yet he did not regret that he had set the example’.5York Herald, 15 Dec. 1832. Following his defeat at York, Dundas nominated John Charles Ramsden as one of the Whig candidates for the North Riding, and acted as chairman of his election committee, but Ramsden was likewise unsuccessful.6York Herald, 20 Oct. 1832; Morning Chronicle, 20 Dec. 1832.

Dundas was only temporarily without a seat, however, as the death of one of the Liberal incumbents prompted a vacancy at York. He found it difficult to get a hearing at an unruly nomination in November 1833, where much of the heckling focused on his absence from the vote in the unreformed Parliament on the Anatomy Act, which allowed unclaimed bodies to be used for medical dissection: ‘No resurrection men’, ‘No Burking’. He ignored this issue, but acknowledged that his vote on the freeman franchise had been unpopular. However, he countered that ‘I was sent by you to advocate reform, and was one of the majority who carried that measure’, and promised to support continued reform in church and state.7The Standard, 9 Nov. 1833. After defeating the Conservative, who had been late in the field, Dundas eschewed a chairing as being associated with the old system of corruption, and declared that ‘I shall generally support the government; but I shall never give them my vote without I sincerely believe in my heart that I am doing right’.8Hull Packet, 15 Nov. 1833. While he did not spend lavishly at the election, Dundas donated £200 to York charities following his return.9The Standard, 21 Nov. 1833. His most noteworthy vote in the subsequent session was in support of Hume’s motion for a low fixed duty on corn, 7 Mar. 1834.

In 1835 Dundas and his younger brother John Charles Dundas, who had been returned for Richmond in 1832, effectively swapped seats. It may have been that with his more advanced views the latter was felt to stand a better chance of retaining the York seat. For while contemporary political guides record that Thomas Dundas favoured the ballot and shorter parliaments, this was not the case, and John Charles Dundas noted during the York contest in 1835 that this was an issue on which the brothers differed.10Dod’s parliamentary companion (1835), 108; Parliamentary Test Book, 1835 (1835), 51; York Herald, 20 Dec. 1834. Thomas, meanwhile, was spared a contest at Richmond, where his hustings speech praised the efforts of the Whig ministry to reduce expenditure, and ‘exposed [the] sophistry’ of Peel’s Tamworth manifesto.11York Herald, 17 Jan. 1835. He continued to vote loyally with Whig ministers, including on the speakership, 19 Feb. 1835, and the address, 26 Feb. 1835, and consistently supported them on Irish church and municipal reform. He opposed repeal of the malt tax, 10 Mar. 1835, and inquiry into the pension list, 19 Apr. 1836. He divided for Chandos’s motion for relief for the agricultural interest, 27 Apr. 1836, and for Clay’s motion to consider a fixed duty on corn, 16 Mar. 1837.

Dundas was re-elected unopposed at Richmond in 1837. He also appeared on the hustings to nominate the Liberal candidate for Stirlingshire, where the Dundas family had estates. He praised the conduct of the Melbourne administration, contending that ministers ‘have never yet shrunk from their duty’ and denying that they were in coalition with Daniel O’Connell.12Caledonian Mercury, 3 Aug. 1837. Later that year he chaired the meeting which established the North Riding Liberal Association, of which he became the first president.13York Herald, 14 Oct. 1837; C.J.D. Ingledew, The history and antiquities of North Allerton, in the county of York (1858), 134. At Westminster, Dundas was appointed to the committee on the Sligo election petition, his only known committee service.14Morning Chronicle, 16 Feb. 1838. He divided against the ballot, 15 Feb. 1838. He supported ministers on Canadian affairs, 7 Mar. 1838, the Irish church, 15 May 1838, and slave apprenticeships, 30 Mar., 22 May 1838. His last vote in the House was in support of Villiers’s motion that the corn law petitioners be heard at the bar of the House, 19 Feb. 1839. On the same day, his father died, and Dundas succeeded as 2nd earl of Zetland, inheriting substantial estates in Yorkshire, Stirlingshire, Fifeshire and the Orkney and Shetland Islands.15Dundee Courier & Argus, 7 May 1873. In 1883 the Zetland estates amounted to 68,170 acres: J. Bateman, The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland (4th edn., 1883), 494.

Zetland never took ‘a conspicuous part in the debates of the upper House’16Baily’s Magazine, Sept. 1860, cited in Morning Post, 8 May 1873., but played a more active political role as Richmond’s electoral patron, rebuffing efforts by local Liberals to have a say in the selection of candidates, and providing a safe haven for ‘the rising members of the party’, notably Sir Roundell Palmer (later Lord Selborne).17R. Fieldhouse, ‘Parliamentary representation in the borough of Richmond’, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 44 (1972), 213-16; The Times, 7 May 1873. His brother John Charles Dundas, who had come in for the seat in 1841, stood down at Richmond in 1847, apparently because of political differences with Zetland, whose views remained more moderate, although they had settled matters by 1865, when John was returned once more. Zetland wished to see property retain ‘its legitimate influence’ and was extremely lukewarm about parliamentary reform in the 1860s, asserting that ‘it never can be intended that we are to be governed by the masses alone’.18Fieldhouse, ‘Parliamentary representation’, 214-15. He was appointed lord lieutenant and custos rotulorum of the North Riding in 1839, and fulfilled this role ‘with a rare impartiality’ until his resignation in March 1873.19London Gazette, 21 Mar. 1873; Northern Echo, 5 May 1873. ‘As a country gentleman and wealthy nobleman he exercised a potent, but unobtrusive influence throughout the whole of the riding’, but was ‘no public speaker’, confining himself to brief remarks when he appeared on public platforms.20Northern Echo, 5 May 1873. His numerous philanthropic endeavours included the provision of land and funding for several schools on his estates, the construction of a church at New Marske in 1867 at a cost of £6,000, and a £300 subscription for the restoration of the south transept of York Minster in 1871.21Northern Echo, 5 May 1873; The Times, 24 Oct. 1871. He took a keen interest in the ‘industrial and moral’ development of the town of Cleveland, with his encouragement of ‘the engineer and the mine owner’ being contrasted with the reactionary views of some landed magnates.22Northern Echo, 5 May 1873.

The Dundas family had long-standing links with freemasonry, and having served as provincial grand master of the North and East Ridings whilst he was an MP, Zetland was appointed as deputy grand master of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1839, pro grand master in 1840, and grand master in 1844.23Blackburn Standard, 19 Oct. 1836; http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/index747.htm Upon his retirement from this position in 1870 he insisted that the £2,370 collected for a testimonial be used for charitable purposes, merely accepting an inkstand for himself.24The Times, 16 May 1870. He was also conspicuous as ‘one of the principal patrons of the turf’, and was elected a member of the Jockey Club in 1853.25Daily News, 7 May 1873; The Times, 15 Apr. 1853. His obituary in The Times opined that ‘it may be doubtful whether any political triumph ever gave him such genuine and unmixed satisfaction as the success of his horse Voltigeur, who won the Derby in 1850’.26The Times, 7 May 1873.

Zetland died at Aske Hall in February 1873 after experiencing ‘a sudden extreme exhaustion’. He had first been taken ill two years previously, after which he had been ‘a frequent sufferer of paralysis’, but his death was unexpected, and he had attended Catterick races in good spirits only two weeks before.27Daily News, 7 May 1873; Northern Echo, 5 May 1873. He was buried in a private funeral in the family vault at Marske-by-the-Sea.28Morning Post, 14 May 1873. He left estate valued at under £250,000, and was succeeded in the earldom and his estates by his nephew, Lawrence Dundas (1844-1929), prompting a vacancy at Richmond, where Lawrence had been returned as a Liberal in 1872.29England & Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of Wills and Administrations,1861-1941, 16 Aug. 1873. The Dundas/Zetland family papers are held at the North Yorkshire County Record Office.