Family and Education

b. ?1693, 3rd but 2nd surv. s. of Sir Mathew Wentworth, 3rd Bt., of Bretton, Yorks. by Elizabeth, da. of William Osbaldeston of Hunmanby, Yorks.; bro. of Sir William Wentworth, 4th Bt.. educ. Univ. Coll. Oxf. 28 Jan. 1710, aged 16. m. 3 July 1720, Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Robert Lord of London, s.p.

Offices Held

Lt. 1st tp. Horse Gren. Gds. Mar. 1715; capt. and lt.-col. 1 Ft. Gds. Oct. 1715; lt.-col. 23 Ft. 1718; adjt.-gen. of all forces and col. of Horse 1722; col. 39 Ft. 1732-7, 24 Ft. 1737-45; brig.-gen. 1739; maj.-gen. 1741; lt.-gen. 1745; col. 5 Drag. Gds. 1745-d.; ambassador, Turin 1746-d.

Biography

When Sir William Wentworth voted against the Government on the motion for an increase in the Prince of Wales’s allowance in 1737, Thomas Wentworth, a professional soldier, wrote to his kinsman, Lord Malton (Thomas Watson Wentworth):

My brother thought fit on that occasion to leave his old friends and to join the minority, which has put me under a difficulty ... Your Lordship may easily imagine that my hopes of being removed to an older regiment will by this accident be very much weakened.1

He was second-in-command and later commander-in-chief of the land forces on the unsuccessful expedition to Cartagena in 1740, quarrelling violently with Admiral Vernon. Returned as a government supporter for Whitchurch in 1743 on the Wallop interest, he voted with the Administration on the Hanoverians in 1744, subsequently serving in Flanders. In 1745 he accompanied Marshal Wade on his march to Newcastle. He did not vote on the Hanoverians in 1746, dying November 1747.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. 28 Feb. 1737, Rockingham mss.