Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage

Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage (c. 1695 – 21 December 1754) was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1717 and 1754.

Early life Gage was the eldest son of Joseph Gage of Shirburn Castle and Elizabeth Penruddock, the daughter and heiress of Sir George Penruddock. He succeeded his father-in-law to High Meadow in 1714.

He converted to the Church of England in 1715, perhaps to enable him to sit in parliament.

Career Gage was elected Member of Parliament for Minehead at a by-election on 11 April 1717, but was unseated on petition on 23 May 1717. On 14 September 1720, King George I created him Baron Gage of Castlebar in the county of Mayo, and Viscount Gage of Castle Island in the county of Kerry of the Kingdom of Ireland.

Gage was elected MP for Tewkesbury at a by-election on 25 October 1721 and was elected again at the 1722 general election. In his first session of this parliament, he made several speeches against the special tax on Papists. In April 1727 he spoke for the motion for a vote of credit. He was returned again at the 1727 general election. He exposed the fraudulent sale of the Derwentwater estates on 31 March 1732, and was subsequently rewarded with £2,000 for this under the Forfeited Estates (Greenwich Hospital) Act 1734 (8 Geo. 2. c. 29). At the 1734 general election, he was returned again as MP for Tewkesbury. He introduced a bill to prevent clandestine marriages, in 1736, but it was rejected. In 1738, it was rumoured that he was to be appointed as Governor of Barbados, but the appointment was never materialised, He went into opposition with Pulteney and the Patriot Whigs in 1739, but in February 1741, he was one of the opposition Whigs who withdrew on the motion for Walpole's removal. He was returned to parliament again at the 1741 general election.

Through his marriage to Benedicta, Thomas acquired wealthy estates in Gloucestershire in 1714 including High Meadow house, which became his principal residence, and the sinecure of Verderer of the Forest of Dean. Their marriage, although unfortunately unhappy,

2. General, the Hon. Thomas Gage, born on 10 March 1718/19 at Firle and christened on 31 March 1719 at Westminster St James, Middlesex, England.

3. Hon. Benedicta Maria Teresa Gage, married on 6 March 1755, at St George's, Hanover Sq, a catholic, George Tasburgh of Bodney, Norfolk, died without issue. having long been separated from Thomas, who married Jane Bond within a year of Benedicta's death.

Second Wife He married secondly on 26 December 1750, Jane Bond 'daughter of one Godfrey', and widow of Henry Jermyn Bond, Esq. of Bury St. Edmunds. Her first husband Henry was a nephew (via his wife) of a Gage cousin, Sir William Gage, 2nd Baronet of Hengrave. Jane died without issue, shortly after Thomas, on 8 October 1757 in Dover Street, Piccadilly, London. Her will was proved 1757, and she was buried in Hengrave Church, Sussex (Suffolk?).

Later life He had extensive remodelling work done on Firle Place between 1743 and 1753, and was involved in a number of land rights disputes regarding windfall trees, soil rights, and manorial waste. Gage also spent considerable time collecting paintings which are still housed in the Long Gallery of Firle Place today.

Gage and his son were defeated at the 1754 general election, having decided not to respond to the threats of his voters only to vote for candidates who promised to give £1,500 towards mending the roads.

Death and legacy Gage died on 21 December 1754 and was buried at Firle. He was succeeded by his eldest son William Hall Gage, 2nd Viscount Gage. He also had a daughter, Theresa, and a second son Thomas Gage who went on to fame as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in British America at the beginning of the American War of Independence.