DUMMER, Thomas Lee (?1712-65), of Cranbury, Hants.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

10 June 1737 - 1741
1747 - 6 Oct. 1765

Family and Education

b. ?1712, s. of Thomas Dummer, sometime dep. keeper of the great wardrobe, by Alathea Holland. educ. Westminster Feb. 1723, aged 10; B.N.C. Oxf. 1728. m. Elizabeth, da. of John Penton of Winchester, 1s. suc. fa. 24 Sept. 1749.

Offices Held

Clerk of the great wardrobe c.1730- d.

Biography

A steady Government supporter, Dummer was returned by Thomas Holmes for Newport on the recommendation of the Pelhams, and adhered to Newcastle even after his resignation; voted against the peace preliminaries, December 1762; and with Opposition over Wilkes and general warrants in each of the five divisions 15 Nov. 1763-18 Feb. 1764 for which a list is extant. He was a member of Wildman’s Club, and was classed as a ‘sure friend’ by Newcastle, 10 May 1764. On 2 Oct. 1764 Hans Stanley wrote from Paris to his nephew Hans Sloane:1 ‘I hear from Spa, that the Duke of Devonshire is past recovery, and I conceive that Mr. Dummer’s opposition most probably will expire with him.’ And to George Grenville, 9 Dec. 1764:2

I have it from one of his most intimate friends that his opposition came entirely from the Duke of Devonshire and this person thinks that any advances to him relative to the Isle of Wight would be kindly received. He has expressed himself very civilly as to yourself.

‘It would be both easy and prudent’, Stanley wrote again on 15 Dec., ‘to inform him that it will still depend upon himself to be considered as a friend.’ But Dummer was not gained over, and in the summer of 1765 Rockingham classed him as ‘pro’. There is no record of his having spoken in Parliament.

Dummer died 6 Oct. 1765. He was reputed to have had an income of over £20,000 p.a.3

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Sir Lewis Namier

Notes

  • 1. Sloane-Stanley mss.
  • 2. Grenville mss (JM).
  • 3. Wilks, Hist. Hants ii. 99.