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STANWIX, Thomas (c.1670-1725), of Carlisle, Cumb.
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Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
b. c.1670, o.s. of Thomas Stanwix of Carlisle by Grace, da. of Thomas Fairfax of Parkhead, Cumb.1 m. Susannah, s.p.
Offices Held
Capt.-lt. 13 Ft. 1691, capt. 1692; capt. 14 Ft. 1693, Earl of Arran’s Horse 1694, 6 Drag. Gds. by 1702; lt.-col. Ld. Henry Scott’s Ft. 1704; brevet col. 1705; lt. gov. Carlisle 1705-d.; col. of newly raised regt. of Ft. 1706; served in Portugal, took part in the battle of the Caya 1709; brig.-gen. 1710; gov. Gibraltar 1710-15, Chelsea Hospital Jan. 1715-June 1720; col. of newly raised regt. of Ft. 1715-17, 30 Ft. July-Aug. 1717, 12 Ft. Aug. 1717-d.; gov. Kingston-upon-Hull Mar. 1721-d.; mayor, Carlisle 1715.
Biography
Stanwix was a native of Carlisle, which he represented for nearly 20 years, building up a strong personal interest. For most of that time he was attached to the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, who recommended him to Marlborough for the lieutenant governorship of Carlisle in 1705.2 Appointed governor of Chelsea Hospital on George I’s accession, he was mayor and commandant of Carlisle during the rebellion of 1715;3 voted for the septennial bill in 1716; spoke for the Government in the army debate of December 1717; and voted with them on the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts but against them on the peerage bill in 1719. About this time he fell out with Lord Carlisle, who was assured by Lord Sunderland that ‘no regard or favour shall be had to Stanwix, his behaviour of late having not deserved much of that’.4 On Walpole’s return to the Pay Office in 1720 Stanwix was turned out of his Chelsea post to make way for Charles Churchill, but next year he was compensated with another governorship. His acceptance of the post was held by the House of Commons to vacate his seat, which he lost at the ensuing by-election. He stood again at the general election with the support of Lord Lonsdale,5 but was narrowly defeated. On both occasions he was brought back into Parliament by the Government for Isle of Wight boroughs. He died 14 May 1725, leaving his property in Carlisle to a nephew, John Roos, who took the name of Stanwix.