Thomas Alcock (MP)

Thomas Alcock (1801 – 22 August 1866) was a British politician.

Thomas Alcock was born in Putney,the son of Joseph Alcock of Roehampton. He was educated at Harrow and served briefly in the 1st Dragoon Guards. In 1828-9 he travelled in Russia, Turkey, Persia and Greece, and later had an account of his travels privately printed.[1]

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the rotten borough of Newton between 1826 and 1830, and after the Great Reform Act, sat for Ludlow from 1839 to 1840, and for East Surrey 1847–1865. He was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey for 1837.[2]

Alcock was politically progressive and in favour of extending the franchise. He spent more than £40,000 on building churches, parsonages and schools, and the endowment of churches, in Surrey and Lincolnshire.[1] He was a strong advocate for the preservation of commons and open spaces for the use and recreation of the public, and published a pamphlet on the subject in 1845.[1]

He was also responsible for extensively remodelling the mansion of Kingswood Warren in Surrey, to the designs of the architect T.R. Knowles.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Thomas Alcock, Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine 331: 547–8. 1866. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZlNFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 
  2. ^ London Gazette: no. 19462. pp. 232–233. 31 January 1837. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  3. ^ Brayley, Edward Wedlake; J. Britton, E.W. Brayley, Jun. (1842). A Topographical History of Surrey. p. 273. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ULcHAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 27 July 2011. 

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Robert Townsend-Farquhar
Thomas Legh
Member of Parliament for Newton
1826–1830
With: Thomas Legh
Succeeded by
Thomas Claughton
Thomas Legh
Preceded by
Viscount Clive
Henry Salwey
Member of Parliament for Ludlow
1839–1840
With: Henry Salwey
Succeeded by
Beriah Botfield
Henry Salwey
Preceded by
Sir Edmund Antrobus
Henry Kemble
Member of Parliament for East Surrey
18471865
With: Peter John Locke King
Succeeded by
Peter John Locke King
Charles Buxton
Honorary titles
Preceded by
William Henry Cooper
High Sheriff of Surrey
1837
Succeeded by
Thomas-Chaloner Bisse-Challoner