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The Right Honourable
The Lord Grantham
PC
The Right Honourable The Lord Grantham PC
	Portrait by George Romney
First Lord of Trade
	In office; 9 December 1780 – 11 July 1782
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	Lord North ; The Marquess of Rockingham
Preceded by	The Earl of Carlisle
Succeeded by	The Lord Sydney (President of the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations)
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
	In office; 13 July 1782 – 2 April 1783
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Earl of Shelburne
Preceded by	Charles James Fox
Succeeded by	Charles James Fox
Personal details
Born	30 November 1738; Vienna, Austria
Died	20 July 1786 (aged 47)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Lady Mary Yorke (m. 1780)
Children	Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey; Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, 1st Earl of Ripon
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge

Arms of Robinson: *Vert, a chevron between three bucks at gaze or*

Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham PC (30 November 1738 – 20 July 1786) was a British statesman. He notably served as Foreign Secretary between 1782 and 1783.

Background and education

Grantham was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, British Ambassador to Austria at the time, by his wife Frances, daughter of Thomas Worsley. He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ's College, Cambridge.^[1]^[2]

Political career

Grantham entered parliament as member for Christchurch in 1761,^[3] and succeeded to the peerage, because of his father's death, in 1770. That year he was appointed to the Privy Council. In 1771 he was sent as British Ambassador to Spain and retained this post until war broke out between Great Britain and Spain in 1779. In 1772, while at the Summer Spanish Court in Aranjuez, he received correspondence from Richard Wall, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs.^[4] From 1780 to 1782 Grantham was President of the Board of Trade, and from July 1782 to April 1783 Foreign Secretary under Lord Shelburne.^[1]

Marriage and progeny

In 1780 Lord Grantham married Lady Mary Yorke (1757–1830), younger daughter of Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke by his wife Lady Jemima Campbell (1723–1797), suo jure 2nd Marchioness Grey, a daughter of John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland by his wife Lady Amabel Grey, a daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent (1671–1740).

In 1740 Lord Grantham's mother-in-law Lady Jemima Campbell (1723–1797) succeeded as 2nd Marchioness Grey by a special remainder upon the death of her maternal grandfather Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, 1st Marquess Grey, 3rd Baron Lucas. As she had no male heirs, the title later became extinct upon her own death in 1797, but in 1816 her elder daughter Lady Amabel Yorke (1750–1833) (wife of Alexander Hume-Campbell, Lord Polwarth) was created Countess de Grey in her own right.

Lord Grantham and his wife lived at Grantham House in Whitehall Yard, Westminster. By his wife had two sons:

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, eldest son and heir. He was born as Thomas Philip Robinson, his surname was Weddell from 1803 and de Grey from 1833.
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, 1st Earl of Ripon (1782–1859), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1827 and 1828.

Death

He died on 20 July 1786, aged only 46, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey. His widow continued to live at Grantham House until her own death in January 1830, aged 72 years.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grantham, Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron s.v. Thomas Robinson". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 359.
^ "Robinson, Thomas (RBN755T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)
^ Letters from Wall to Robinson, 30 December 1772, 10 December 1776, 13 December 1774, 18 October 1777. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service L 30/14/409/1-4. Wall lived at Soto de Roma, Íllora, near Granada and mentions people from England visiting him, receiving and sending little presents.
^ "Grantham House". British History Online. Retrieved 6 March 2018.

External links

"Archival material relating to Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham". UK National Archives.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir Thomas Robinson John Mordaunt	Member of Parliament for Christchurch 1761–1770 With: James Harris	Succeeded by James Harris Sir James Harris
Political offices
Preceded by Viscount Villiers	Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1770–1771	Succeeded by Viscount Hinchingbrooke
Preceded by The Earl of Carlisle	First Lord of Trade 1780–1782	Succeeded by Thomas Townshend as President of the Committee on Trade and Foreign Plantations
Preceded by Charles James Fox	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 1782–1783	Succeeded by Charles James Fox
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Thomas Robinson	Baron Grantham 1770–1786	Succeeded by Thomas Robinson