Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton

Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton PC (August 1648 – 12 April 1715) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton and his second wife, Jane Goodwin, only daughter of Colonel Arthur Goodwin of Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire, and heiress to the extensive Goodwin estates in Buckinghamshire, including Winchendon, Wooburn, Waddeston, Weston, and other properties.

In his long political career he was a Member of Parliament for seventeen years and spearheaded the Whig opposition to King James II's government, which later developed the two party political system under Queen Anne. In 1689 he was sworn of the Privy Council and made Comptroller of the Household by King William III, establishing the link between the royal position and government for the first time.

He went out of office in 1702, after the accession of Anne (who disliked him), but in 1706, he was created Earl of Wharton and Viscount Winchendon in the Peerage of England. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1708–1710.

Under George I of England, he returned to favour. In January 1715, he was created Marquess of Catherlough, Earl of Rathfarnham, and Baron Trim in the Peerage of Ireland, and in February 1715 Marquess of Wharton and Marquess of Malmesbury in the Peerage of Great Britain.

When he died in April 1715 he was buried in Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire. He is generally credited as author of the original lyrics of Lillibullero, which "rhymed King James out of England".

Wharton married 16 September 1673 Anne, or Nan, Lee (d 29 October 1685 aged 26), younger daughter of Sir Henry Lee, 3rd Bt. (d. 1659), an elder half-brother of the famous libertine poet John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester; they had no issue together. Her sister Eleanora Lee married James Bertie, Lord Norreys; their cousin was Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield. Although her husband had infected her with syphilis, Anne Wharton left him her fortune. Her grandmother Anne St. John, Countess of Rochester tried to regain her fortune from the Whartons with little effect.

See also

• Whig Junto

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by Richard Hampden Edward Backwell	Member of Parliament for Wendover 1673 – 1679 With: Richard Hampden	Succeeded by Richard Hampden Edward Backwell
Preceded by Sir William Bowyer, Bt William Tyringham	Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire 1679 – 1696 With: John Hampden 1679–1681 Richard Hampden 1681–1685 Viscount Brackley 1685–1686 Sir Thomas Lee, Bt 1689–1690 Richard Hampden 1690–1695 Sir Richard Atkins, Bt 1695–1696	Succeeded by Sir Richard Atkins, Bt The Viscount Newhaven
Legal offices
Preceded by The 1st Earl of Abingdon	Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1697 – 1702	Vacant
Vacant	Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1706 – 1711	Succeeded by The 2nd Earl of Abingdon
Honorary titles
Preceded by The 1st Earl of Abingdon	Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire 1697 – 1702	Succeeded by The 2nd Earl of Abingdon
Preceded by The Lord Jeffreys	Custos Rotulorum of Buckinghamshire 1689 – 1702	Succeeded by The Viscount Newhaven
Preceded by The Earl of Bridgewater	Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire 1702
Preceded by The 1st Viscount Lonsdale	Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland 1700 – 1702	Succeeded by The Earl of Thanet
Preceded by The Earl of Thanet	Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland 1706 – 1714	Succeeded by The Earl of Thanet
Preceded by The Earl of Thanet	Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland 1714 – 1715	Succeeded by The 3rd Viscount Lonsdale
Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Pembroke	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1708 – 1710	Succeeded by The Duke of Ormonde
Preceded by The Earl of Dartmouth	Lord Privy Seal 1714 – 1715	Succeeded by The Earl of Sunderland
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Marquess of Wharton and Malmesbury 1715	Succeeded by Philip Wharton
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Marquess of Catherlough 1715	Succeeded by Philip Wharton
Peerage of England
New creation	Earl of Wharton 1706 – 1715	Succeeded by Philip Wharton
Preceded by Philip Wharton	Baron Wharton 1696 – 1715