Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet

English lawyer and Whig politician For other people named Thomas Littleton, see Thomas Littleton (disambiguation).

Sir Thomas Littleton, 3rd Baronet, often Thomas de Littleton, (3 April 1647 – 31 December 1709), of North Ockendon, Essex and Stoke St. Milborough, Shropshire, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1709. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons of England from 1698 to 1700, and as Treasurer of the Navy until his death.

Biography

Littleton was the son of Sir Thomas Littleton, 2nd Baronet (died 1681), and his wife and cousin Anne Littleton. He was related to Thomas de Littleton, a 15th-century jurist and legal theorist of the Littleton/Lyttelton family. He matriculated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1665 and was admitted at Inner Temple in 1666. In 1671, he was called to the bar. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy on 12 April 1681. On 6 September 1682, he married Anne Baun (died 1714), daughter of Benjamin Baun alias Baron, of Westcote, Gloucestershire.

Littleton was returned as Member of Parliament for Woodstock at the 1689 English general election. He was Speaker of the House of Commons of England from 1698 to 1700. He was appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1699 and held the post for the rest of his life. At the 1702 English general election he was returned as MP for Castle Rising. At the 1705 English general election he was returned as MP for Chichester. He was returned as MP for Portsmouth at the 1708 British general election.

Upon his death, without issue in 1709 aged 62, the baronetcy expired, but his estate passed to his first cousin Mrs Elizabeth Meynell, the daughter of his uncle Edward Littleton.

Macaulay thus sums up the character of Speaker Littleton and his relations with the Whigs: "He was one of their ablest, most zealous and most steadfast friends; and had been, both in the House of Commons and at the board of treasury, an invaluable second to Montague" (the Earl of Halifax).

References

^ Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1902), Complete Baronetage volume 2 (1625–1649), vol. 2, Exeter: William Pollard and Co, retrieved 30 July 2019
^ "LITTLETON, alias POYNTZ, Sir Thomas, 3rd Bt. (1647–1709), of North Ockenden, Essex and Stoke St. Milborough, Salop". History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
"LITTLETON, alias POYNTZ, Sir Thomas, 3rd Bt. (1647–1710), of North Ockendon, Essex Stoke St. Milborough, Salop". History of Parliament Online (1660–1690). Retrieved 30 July 2019.

Parliament of England
Preceded byRichard Bertie Sir Littleton Osbaldeston, Bt	Member of Parliament for Woodstock 1689–1702 With: Sir John Doyley 1689–1690 Thomas Wheate 1690–1695 James Bertie 1695–1702	Succeeded byJames Bertie Sir William Glynne, Bt
Preceded byRobert Walpole Marquess of Hartington	Member of Parliament for Castle Rising 1702–1705 With: Horatio Walpole	Succeeded byHoratio Walpole Sir Robert Clayton
Preceded byJohn Miller William Elson	Member of Parliament for Chichester 1705–1707 With: William Elson 1705 Thomas Onslow 1705–1707	Succeeded byParliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded byParliament of England	Member of Parliament for Chichester 1707–1708 With: Thomas Onslow	Succeeded byThomas Carr Sir Richard Farington, Bt
Preceded byGeorge Churchill Thomas Erle	Member of Parliament for Portsmouth 1708–1709 With: George Churchill	Succeeded byGeorge Churchill Sir Charles Wager
Political offices
Preceded byThe Earl of Anglesey	Treasurer of the Navy 1668–1671 Served alongside: Sir Thomas Osborne	Succeeded bySir Thomas Osborne
Preceded byJohn Swaddell	Clerk of the Ordnance 1690–1696	Succeeded byChristopher Musgrave
Preceded byPaul Foley	Speaker of the House of Commons of England 1698–1700	Succeeded byRobert Harley
Preceded byThe Earl of Orford	Treasurer of the Navy 1699–1710	Succeeded byRobert Walpole
Baronetage of England
Preceded byThomas Littleton	Baronet (of Stoke Milburgh, Suffolk) 1681–1709	Extinct

Speakers of the House of Commons (list)

House of Commons
of England

14th century	de Shareshull De la Mare Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford Savage
15th century	Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Doreward Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Flower Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington I Tyrell Russell Hunt Bowes Tyrell Burley W. Tresham Burley W. Tresham Say Popham I W. Tresham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock T. Tresham Green Strangeways Say Alington II Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield
16th century	Dudley Englefield Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave T. Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham II Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton
17th century	Croke Phelips R. Crewe Richardson T. Crewe H. Finch J. Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Lenthall Rous (Barebones Parliament) Lenthall Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute, Long & Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Lenthall Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Seymour Gregory W. Williams Trevor Powle Trevor Foley Littleton
18th century	Harley Smith

House of Commons
of Great Britain

18th century	Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington

House of Commons
of the United Kingdom

19th century	Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully
20th century	Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd Martin
21st century	Martin Bercow Hoyle

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