Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow
Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, PC (9 December 1731 – 12 September 1806), was a British lawyer and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1765 to 1778 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Thurlow. He served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain for fourteen years and under four Prime Ministers.
The Lord Thurlow
In Commission
George III
In Commission
In Commission
9 December 1731
12 September 1806 (aged 74)
English
Early life[edit]
Born at Bracon Ash, Norfolk, Thurlow was the eldest son of Reverend Thomas Thurlow. Thomas Thurlow, Bishop of Durham, was his brother. He studied at King's School, Canterbury and at Caius College, Cambridge.[1] However, he was forced to leave Cambridge in 1751 without a degree after coming into conflict with the authorities of the university. He was for some time articled to a solicitor in Lincoln's Inn, but in 1754 he was called to the Bar, Inner Temple. After a slow start, Thurlow eventually established a successful legal practice. He was made a King's Counsel in 1761 and was elected a bencher of the Inner Temple in 1762.[2]
Personal life[edit]
Thurlow had a number of illegitimate children[4] Two of his daughters, Maria and Catharine, had their portrait painted by George Romney in 1783. Maria, who died in 1816, married Colonel Sir David Cunynghame of Milncraig, 5th Baronet, in 1801, and had several children.[5] Catharine, who died in 1826, married Alexander Fraser, 17th Lord Saltoun, in 1815.[6]
