BEST, Thomas (?1713-95), of Chilston Park, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1741 - 1754
1761 - 1768

Family and Education

b. ?1713, 1st s. of Mawdistly Best of Park House, in Boxley, and Chatham, Kent, brewer, by Elizabeth, da. of James Fearne of Chatham, surgeon.1 educ. University Coll. Oxf., 8 June 1732, aged 18; ?I.Temple 1732. m. 3 Jan. 1743, Caroline, da. of John Scott of Scot’s Hall, Kent, s.p. suc. fa. 1744.

Offices Held

Lt. gov. of Dover and dep. warden of the Cinque Ports 1762-d.

Biography

Thomas Best, ‘a gentleman of immense fortune’,2 whose grandfather had founded a brewery in Chatham High Street, did not himself inherit the family business, which was carried on by his younger brother James.3 Through his wife he was connected with leading Kent families; his sister married Robert Fairfax, and he himself was nephew to Admiral Edward Vernon. Returned as a Tory for Canterbury in 1741 and 1747, he voted regularly with the Opposition, being classed as such in 1747. He died 26 Mar. 1795.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: A. N. Newman

Notes

  • 1. Best mss F5, Kent Archives Office.
  • 2. Gent. Mag. 1795, p. 352.
  • 3. R. A. Keen, 'Messrs. Best, brewers of Chatham', Arch. Cant. lxxii. 172-81.