Sir Thomas Lethbridge, 2nd Baronet

Sir Thomas Lethbridge, 2nd Baronet
Born Thomas Buckler Lethbridge
1778
Died 1849

Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge, was the 2nd baronet of the Lethbridge baronets.

Personal life

Thomas and his sisters Dorothea and Frances Maria in 1785

He was born in 1778, son of Sir John Lethbridge, 1st Baronet. The baronetcy had been created in 1804, for his help in paying the Prince Regent's gambling debts.[1]

Sandhill Park

The family seat was at Sandhill Park, Bishops Lydeard.

In 1785, he and his two sisters were painted by Charles Gill. The painting of The Lethbridge Children is now in the Tate Gallery.[2]

He was educated at Oxford.[3]

He was disinherited by his father, although they reconciled and that will was destroyed shortly before the baronet died in 1815.[3]

Sir Thomas married twice: first, in 1796, to Jacintha Catherine Hesketh of Rufford Hall, Lancashire, who died in 1801; and second, to Anne Goddard, of Swindon, Wiltshire. Dorothea Lethbridge married Capt. (later Sir) Henry Powell Collins in 1800. Frances married Capt. Charles Henry Rich in 1804.[4]

Sir John’s wife Dorothy died in 1831.[4]

In the 1830s, Lethbridge also had a house in the Royal Crescent, Bath.[3]

Political career

In May 1806 he became one of two MPs for Somerset.[3]

Lethbridge, as a rural squire, was a staunch defender of the Corn Laws in their last years before repeal and against the Anti-Corn Law League.[5]

Banking and finance

He was the principal founder of the West Somerset Savings Bank at Taunton, on 6 September 1817.[6] By 1821 the bank had deposits of almost 90,000 pounds from over two and half thousand accounts.[6]

Despite being regarded as a reliable banker, he was less careful with his own money and lost heavily on a variety of investments. These ranged from speculative canals that remained unbuilt, long tramroads beyond the practical bounds of local technology and then the iron industry. By 1840 he was practically bankrupt.[3][lower-roman 1]

Iron industry

Lethbridge's involvement with the South Wales iron industry began in 1825 when he invested in the Hunt brothers' Pentwyn ironworks, in Abersychan, near Pontypool.[3]

In 1836 he was a principal shareholder for the newly formed Monmouthshire Iron and Coal Company on the greenfield 'Victoria' site south of Ebbw Vale. Despite the name, this company was based in Bath and drew most of its subscribers from Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.[3] The ironworks progressed well at first and in 1838 produced 692 tons of bar iron.[7]

1839 brought a collapse in the price of iron and widespread bankruptcies. In November this was compounded by the Newport Rising, encouraged by the ironmasters and coal owner's cutting of wages to save money.

By 1840, Lethbridge was effectively bankrupt.[3] He sought other means to make money, looking at his estates in Somerset.

Iron ore mining

Iron ore mining on the Lethbridge estate was long established, although on a tiny scale. A number of shallow scrapes in the ground has existed since time immemorial; these were known as the 'Roman' workings, although were more likely to be medieval.[lower-roman 2]

Lethbridge would play a major role in the Brendon Hills Iron Ore Company and the West Somerset Mineral Railway.

Death

The obituary notes the death of Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge, who for many years was a prominent Member of the House of Commons on the Conservative side. Sir Thomas was twice married, and he has left a numerous family. [8]

He was succeeded by John, his eldest son.

See also

References

  1. ↑ This was a time of great expansion for iron-making in South Wales and great fortunes were being made by most other investors and ironfounding dynasties. Many though lost them in the crash of 1839.
  2. ↑ There was little evidence of Roman industry in the area this far West in Somerset.
  1. ↑ Thorne, R.G. (1986). "members G-P". History of Parliament: the House of Commons, 1790–1820. 4. p. 420.
  2. ↑ Charles Gill (1785). "The Lethbridge Children".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jones, M.H. (2011). The Brendon Hiills Iron Mines and the West Somerset Mineral Railway. Lightmoor Press. pp. 17–22. ISBN 9781899889-5-3-2.
  4. 1 2 https://sites.google.com/site/maryjanesdaughter/home/claire-s-father/sir-john-lethbridge
  5. ↑ "Buckler-Lethbridge, the Ægis of the Corn-Law". The Spectator. Vol. 17 no. 814. 3 February 1844. p. 109.
  6. 1 2 Toulmin, Joshua (1822). The history of Taunton, in the county of Somerset. Taunton: J. Poole. p. 587.
  7. ↑ Scrivenor, H. (1854). History of the Iron Trade.
  8. ↑ "Obituary". The Spectator. 20 October 1849. p. 7.

External links

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