583 Thomas Paget

Constituency  : Leicestershire  South  1867-8, 1880-85, Harborough  1885-6

Thomas  chalked  up  a  Liberal  gain  in  the  usually  solid  Tory  seat  of  Leicestershire  South  after  the  death  of  one  of  the  Tory  MPs, He  won  by  39  votes  after  a  well-organised  Liberal  campaign.

Thomas  was  the  son  of  a  former  Whig MP. He  stood  for  Leicester  in  a  by-election  in  1856  as  a  moderate  Liberal  against  the  radical  John  Biggs, a  contest  that  cemented  Liberal  division  in  the  borough.   He  was  a  banker  and  landowner. He  was  a   Unitarian. He  was  interested  in  educational  expansion  and  founded  schools. He  was  fond  of  country sports.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1868, at  a  by-election  in  1870  and  1874  but  finally  reclaimed  the  seat  in 1880  after  declining  opportunities  to  stand  in  the  Leicester  borough.. He  switched  to  Harborough  when  the  seat  was  abolished  in  1885  but  stepped  down  at  the 1886  election. He  issued  an  address  saying  that  he  was  retiring  through  ill  health  but  supported  Gladstone  and  Home  Rule.

Thomas  was  opposed  to  the  lash, game  laws  and  capital  punishment.

Thomas  was  fond  of  theatre  and  the  opera  and  gave  considerable  financial  support  to  Leicester  Opera  House  which  opened  in  1877.

He  died  in  1892  aged  85.