Constituency : Cornwall East 1847-68
Thomas was a scion of a younger branch of the Viscounts Clifden. His father died of typhoid in 1811 when he was three and his two brothers died at a young age. He started managing his estate when he came of age in 1829. He was a philanthropist with a special regard for the Cornish miners. He built and maintained the Miners Infirmary in Redruth and endowed several schools. He came to be known as "the poor man's friend". He also helped purchase a lifeboat and maintain the lifeboat station at Porthleven so it was named after him and served until a year before his death.
Thomas was a regional political boss who nominated one of the two Bodmin members from 1859 to 1868 and its single member down to 1880. He was well regarded as an organisational talent in the early years of the party though he was never part of the government.
Thomas was defeated in 1868 then raised to the peerage the following year as Baron Robartes.
In 1882 Thomas's wife died following a devastating house fire. He died a year later in 1883 aged 73. His son ( also a Liberal MP ) eventually became Viscount Clifden.
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