Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet

Who was Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet?

Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet was born in Cambrai, the third son of Sir Edward Gascoigne, 6th Baronet and a member of the Gascoigne family. He succeeded his elder brother in 1762.

He supported the cause of American Independence and built a commemorative arch to the American Victory in the War of Independence, thought to be modelled on the Arch of Constantine in Rome, at the entrance to his Parlington Hall estate. .

He was a Member of Parliament for Thirsk from 1780 to 1784, for Malton in 1784 and for Arundel in 1795.

He was a keen breeder and trainer of horses and with Sir Thomas Stapleton won the St. Leger Stakes in 1778 with Hollandoise. He won the same race twenty-years later with his home-bred colt Symmetry. Some of their racing cups can be seen at Lotherton Hall, near Leeds.

He died in 1810. He had married twice; firstly a Miss Montgomery and secondly Mary, the daughter of James Shuttleworth of Gawthorp and widow of Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet, of Kirkleatham. He left no male heirs as his only son, Thomas, had been killed in a hunting accident at 24 and thus the baronetcy became extinct.