Robinson, Thomas, 1st Baron Grantham (1695 -1770)

Thomas Robinson was a younger son of Sir William Robinson, Bt (1655–1736) of Newby-on-Swale, Yorkshire, and Mary, eldest daughter of George Aislabie of Studley Royal, Yorkshire.
Following his education at Westminster School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, Thomas gained his earliest diplomatic experience in Paris and then went on to Vienna, where he was British Ambassador from 1730 to 1748.
On 13 July 1737 he married Frances, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham, Yorkshire, , and had two sons and six daughters.
He was made a Knight Companion of the Bath in 1742. Returning to England in 1748 he sat in Parliament for Christchurch from 1749 to 1761.
In 1754 Robinson was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department, and Leader of the House of Commons by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, In November 1755 he resigned, and in April 1761 he was created Baron Grantham.
He was Master of the Great Wardrobe between 1749 and 1760, and was joint Postmaster-General in 1765 and 1766.
He died in London on 30 September 1770, and was buried at Chiswick. He was succeeded in the peerage by his eldest son, Thomas.