Thomas Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield

Military career He had joined the part-time Staffordshire Yeomanry as a trooper in 1811 before being appointed captain of the Lichfield Troop on 3 August 1812. He was promoted to major on 27 September 1819 and to lieutenant-colonel and second-in-command on 17 December 1829. The regiment provided the escort when the Duchess of Kent and her daughter Princess Victoria visited him at Shugborough in 1832. He succeeded as lieutenant-colonel commandant of the regiment on 10 April 1833 and commanded it until his death, having served more than 40 years, over 20 of them in command. After his death the regiment erected a memorial to him in Lichfield Cathedral.

Gambling Anson was also known for his excessive gambling and lavish entertaining at his Shugborough Hall seat. He also purchased the estate at nearby Ranton, Staffordshire, where he built Abbey House and developed the estate into a great sporting centre. However, his extravagant lifestyle and gambling put him and the family into debts of £600,000 and led to Anson's financial collapse in 1842. The entire contents of Shugborough Hall were sold off to pay for the debts. Abbey House at Ranton burned down in 1942. The ivy-covered ruins can still be seen.

Personal life Louisa Philips, Countess of Lichfield (1800–1879) with two of her children by Sir George Hayter 1832Lord Lichfield married Louisa Catherine, daughter of Nathaniel Philips, in 1819. They had four sons and four daughters, being: Lady Louisa Mary Ann Anson (1819–1882), who married Lt.-Col. Edward King-Tenison (d. 1878) of Kilronan Castle, in 1838 and had issue. Lady Anne Frederica Anson (1823–1896), who married Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss, in 1843 and had issue. Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (1825–1892) Lady Harriet Frances Maria Anson (1827–1898), who married Augustus Venables-Vernon, 6th Baron Vernon, in 1851 and had issue. Hon. William Victor Leopold Horatio Anson (1833–1856) Lt.-Col. Hon. Augustus Henry Archibald Anson (1835–1877), a soldier who received the Victoria Cross for service during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, he later served as member of parliament for Lichfield. In 1863, he married Amelia Maria Claughton (1844–1894), eldest daughter of the Rt. Rev. Thomas Legh Claughton, Bishop of St Albans, by the former Hon. Julia Susanna Ward (eldest daughter of William Humble Ward, 10th Baron Ward) and sister of Sir Gilbert Henry Claughton, 1st Baronet. They did not have children. After Anson's death, his widow married, as his second wife, George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll in 1881. Lady Gwendoline Isabella Anna Maria Anson (1837–1912), who married 19 Apr 1865 Nicholas Power O'Shee, of Gardenmorris, co. Waterford (d. 30 Mar 1902), and had issue. Rt. Rev. Hon. Adelbert John Robert Anson, a clergyman who served as Bishop of Qu'Apelle in Canada (1840–1909).

Lord Lichfield died at his townhouse at 2 Stanhope Street in Mayfair, aged 58, and is buried at St Michael and All Angels Church in Colwich, a short distance from Shugborough Hall. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Thomas. Lady Lichfield survived him by over 25 years and died in August 1879.