713 Thomas Whitworth

Constituency : Drogheda  1869-74

Thomas  was  another  MP  who  succeeded  his  father  in  the  seat. In  his  case  his  father  Benjamin  was  unseated  by  petition  after  a  very  rough  election  campaign. Thomas  was  then  elected  unopposed. You  do  wonder  why  his  father's  opponents  took  the  trouble  to  get  up  a  petition  and  then  let  Thomas  have  a  free  run.

Thomas  was  defeated  in  1874  by  William  O' Leary  who  stood  as  a  "Liberal*  and  Home  Rule" candidate.

Thomas's  only  parliamentary  speech  was  a  question  on  a  local  civic  matter.

He  died  in  1912  aged  67.


* As  O' Leary's  "Liberalism"  doesn't  seem  to  have  been  anything  more  than  an  electoral  ploy  to  syphon  off  Thomas's  votes he's  not  going  to  get  a  post  here.