Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham

The Right Honourable The Lord Grantham KB PC
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded by	Henry Pelham
Succeeded by	Henry Fox
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office 23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded by	The Earl of Holderness
Succeeded by	Henry Fox
Personal details
Born	1695 Grantham, England
Died	30 September 1770 (Aged 74/75)
Cause of death	Stroke
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Frances Worsley
Children	8
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, KB PC (ca. 1695 – 30 September 1770) was a British diplomatist and politician.

He was a younger son of Sir William Robinson, Bt (1655–1736) of Newby-on-Swale, Yorkshire, who was Member of Parliament for York from 1697 to 1722. His elder brother was Rear Admiral Sir Tancred Robinson

Early career

Having been a scholar and minor fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Thomas Robinson gained his earliest diplomatic experience in Paris and then went to Vienna, where he was English ambassador from 1730 to 1748. During 1741 he sought to make peace between the empress Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great, but in vain, and in 1748 he represented his country at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle. He was made a Knight Companion of the Bath in 1742.

Returning to England he sat in parliament for Christchurch from 1749 to 1761. In 1750, he was appointed to the Privy Council.

Southern Secretary

Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years War

Caricature of George Bubb Dodington and Sir Thomas Robinson

In 1754 Robinson was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Leader of the House of Commons by the prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and it was on this occasion that Pitt made the famous remark to Fox, "the duke might as well have sent us his jackboot to lead us." In November 1755 he resigned, and in April 1761 he was created Baron Grantham.

Later career

He was Master of the Great Wardrobe 1749–1754 and again 1755–1760, and was joint Postmaster-General in 1765 and 1766. He died in London on 30 September 1770.

He married Frances, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham, on 13 July 1737, and had two sons and six daughters. He was succeeded in the peerage by his eldest son, Thomas.

The town of Grantham, New Hampshire in the United States of America is named after Robinson.

External links

"Robinson, Thomas (1695-1770)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.