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Henry Cressett Pelham (1729? – January 1803) was a British politician, known as Henry Pelham until 1792.

The youngest son of Thomas Pelham, he was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and became a fellow of Peterhouse in 1751.

In the same year, he was returned for Bramber as a Government supporter; the electoral patronage there was leased by Lord Archer from Sir Henry Gough, who controlled it. In the 1754 election, he was instead returned for another government borough, Tiverton in Cornwall.

Pelham apparently took little interest in politics, and in 1758, through the patronage of his second cousin once removed, the Duke of Newcastle, obtained an appointment as a Commissioner of Customs. This obliged him to vacate his seat, and he was replaced by Sir Edward Hussey-Montagu. Pelham's political detachment led him to be spared in December 1762, when other relatives of Newcastle were removed from office.

He married Jane, the daughter of Nicholas Hardinge, on 1 September 1767. They had three children:

• John Cressett Pelham (?1769–1838)
• Frances Cressett Pelham, married Rev. George Thursby; their descendants became the Thursby-Pelhams
• Anne Cressett Pelham, married Thomas Papillon

Pelham succeeded his brother John in the Catsfield and Crowhurst estates in 1786. He resigned his Customs office in 1788 and was granted an annual pension of £761. He adopted the additional surname of Cressett in 1792 after inheriting from his niece Miss Cressett, and died in early 1803. He was buried at Cound on 8 January 1803.

References

1. "Pelham, Henry (PLHN746H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. ^ Sedgwick, Romney R. (1970). "PELHAM, Henry (?1729-1803), of Lee, Kent.". In Sedgwick, Romney (ed.). The House of Commons 1715–1754. The History of Parliament Trust.
3. Sedgwick, Romney R. (1970). "Bramber". In Sedgwick, Romney (ed.). The House of Commons 1715–1754. The History of Parliament Trust.
4. ^ Namier, Lewis (1964). "PELHAM, Henry (?1729-1803), of Lee, Kent.". In Namier, Sir Lewis; Brooke, John (eds.). The House of Commons 1754–1790. The History of Parliament Trust.
5. Venn appears to have attached certain biographical details for Henry Cressett Pelham to another Henry Pelham, who matriculated at Clare College in 1760; see "Pelham, Henry (PLHN760H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. The latter Henry Pelham has not been identified with certainty.
6. Cound Parish Registers. 1901. p. 115. Retrieved 28 March 2009.

• 1720s births
• 1803 deaths
• Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
• Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge
• Whig (British political party) MPs
• Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
• British MPs 1747–1754
• British MPs 1754–1761
• Pelham family
• People from Catsfield