Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester

He was educated at Westminster School (1740) and Clare College, Cambridge (1745) and undertook the Grand Tour through France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany between 1746 and 1750.

Pelham was elected to the House of Commons for Rye in 1749, a seat he held until 1754, and then represented Sussex until 1768.

He served as a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations from 1754 to 1761, as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1761 to 1762 and as Comptroller of the Household from 1765 to 1774 and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1765.

In 1776, Pelham bought the manor of Falmer from his second cousin once removed, Sir John Shelley, 5th Baronet.

Lord Chichester died in January 1805, aged 76, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Thomas, who became a prominent politician.