TUFTON, Hon. Sackville (1646-1721), of London.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

3 Jan. 1681

Family and Education

b. 11 June 1646, 5th s. of John, 2nd Earl of Thanet; bro. of Hon. Richard Tufton and Hon. Thomas Tufton. m. 10 June 1686, Elizabeth, da. and h. of Ralph Wilbraham of Newbottle, Northants., 6s. (1 d.v.p.), 6da.

Offices Held

Member, Hon Artillery Co. 1668; commr. for assessment, Kent 1673-80, 1689-90.1

Lt. of ft. by 1673; capt. R. Ft. Gds. (later Grenadier Gds.) 1674-87; gov. of Tilbury 1684-9; col. (aft. 15 Ft.) 1687-9.

Biography

Tufton earned his commission in the guards by serving as volunteer aboard the fleet in 1672. He was wounded at Sole Bay, and again at the second battle of Schoneveld in the following year. He entered the House unopposed at the by-election to the second Exclusion Parliament caused by his brother’s succession to the peerage, and represented the family borough of Appleby till the Revolution. But it was not until 1685 that he was appointed to any committees. In James II’s Parliament he was moderately active, with nine committees. He was among the Members instructed to recommend erasures in the Journal, and on 3 June he was added to the committee examining the accounts of the disbandment commissioners. He was also named to the committees for providing carriages for the navy and ordnance and conveying fresh water to Rochester and Chatham. He accepted the colonelcy of a line regiment in 1687, much against the wishes of his brother, the head of the family, and was recommended as court candidate for Appleby. After the Revolution, he became a non-juror, and was arrested as a Jacobite in 1694, but permitted to go abroad two years later. He died on 30 Mar. 1721. His son, who had sat for Appleby since 1722, succeeded as 7th Earl of Thanet in 1729.2

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Leonard Naylor

Notes

  • 1. Ancient Vellum Bk. ed. Raikes, 93.
  • 2. CSP Dom. 1672, p. 165; 1673, p. 338; 1687-9, p. 276; HMC Finch, ii. 222, 225; HMC Kenyon, 297; PC2/76/227; Boyer, Hist. Wm. III, i. 310; Luttrell, iv. 54, 564.