GRESLEY, Sir Thomas, 5th Bt. (1722-53), of Drakelow, Derbys.

Family and Education

b. 12 July 1722, 1st surv. s. of Sir Thomas Gresley, 4th Bt., by his 1st w. Dorothy, da. and coh. of Sir William Bowyer, 4th Bt., of Knypersley, Staffs. educ. Balliol, Oxf. 1739. m. 1749, Wilmot, da. and h. of Mr. Hood of Scraptoft, Leics. suc. fa. as 5th Bt. Oct. 1746.

Offices Held

Sheriff, Derbys. 1750–1.

Address

Main residence: Drakelow, Derbys.

biography text

Gresley, who had inherited large Staffordshire estates from his mother,1F. Madan, ’The Gresleys of Drakelow’, Wm. Salt. Arch. Soc. n.s. i. 109. was one of the heads of the Tory demonstration at Lichfield races in 1747. Chosen to stand for Lichfield at a by-election in 1753 against the ministerial candidate, he was described by Lady Anson as ‘the truest country cub I ever saw’.2Staffs. Parl. Hist. (Wm. Salt Arch. Soc.) ii(2), pp. 253, 255. Returned after a contest, he died of smallpox a few weeks later, 23 Dec. 1753. On 29 Jan. 1754 the House of Commons resolved that he had not been duly elected.

Author

E.C.

Volume

Commons 1715-1754

Notes

1. F. Madan, ’The Gresleys of Drakelow’, Wm. Salt. Arch. Soc. n.s. i. 109.
2. Staffs. Parl. Hist. (Wm. Salt Arch. Soc.) ii(2), pp. 253, 255.