Thomas Sidney

Thomas Sidney (5 January 1805 – 10 March 1889) was a British Liberal Party and Conservative Party politician, and tea merchant. He had at least one other child, Thomas Stafford.

Political career Sidney's political career began as City Councillor of the City of London for Farringdon Ward for 1843 to 1844, and then as alderman of Billingsgate in 1844, a position he held for 36 years.

He later returned to Parliament as a Liberal member after a by-election in 1860 — caused by the resignation of John Ayshford Wise — and held the seat until the 1865 general election, when he retired. He began developing the western border of the estate in 1870, laying out what is now Palmerston Road in around 1870, and building 30 large houses backing onto the New River. He also paid for much of the construction of the St Michael-at-Bowes Church, which was completed in 1874 and in which he is now buried.

Upon his death in 1889, the manor and estate were put up for sale, but no purchasers came forward, and it was instead leased to the guardians of the poor of St Mary's Church, Islington; it later became ran down and divided up for development, and then sold for building in 1899.

Other activities Sidney was also a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster and a Deputy Lieutenant for London. He was also an Overseer of the Poor in 1849, but was exempted, and then became a churchwarden for 1852/1853.