# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Rawlinson, Thomas (1647-1708)

1904 Errata appended. Contains subarticle Sir Thomas Rawlinson (d. 1769).
​RAWLINSON, Sir THOMAS (1647–1708), lord mayor of London, son of Daniel and Margaret Rawlinson, was born in the parish of St. Dionis Backchurch, London, in March and baptised on 1 April 1647 (Harleian Soc. Registers of St. Dionis, p. 109). His father (1614–1679) was a London vintner, who kept the Mitre tavern in Fenchurch Street, and owned land at Graysdale in Lancashire, where the family was originally seated (Foster, Lancashire Pedigrees). Young Rawlinson followed his father's business; he was admitted a freeman of the Vintners' Company on 12 Oct. 1670, and was elected master in 1687 and in 1696. The company possess a silver-gilt standing cup and cover presented to them by Rawlinson in 1687. On 6 Aug. 1686 he was knighted at Windsor, and in the following month was appointed by the king, with Sir Thomas Fowles, sheriff of London and Middlesex (Luttrell, Relation of State Affairs, i. 385). He was elected alderman of the ward of Castle Baynard on 1 Dec. 1696 (ib.), and was appointed colonel of the trained bands in July 1690, and colonel of the White regiment on 21 June 1705. On 22 Sept. 1705 he became president of Bridewell and Bethlehem hospitals, and on Michaelmas day following was chosen lord mayor. During his mayoralty the city celebrated Marlborough's victories in Flanders. ​At Rawlinson's request the queen presented the trophies and colours taken at Ramilies and other engagements to the city, to be hung in the Guildhall.
Rawlinson died in November 1708 at his house in the Old Bailey, and was buried on the 18th in the church of St. Dionis, in the tomb of his father. A portrait is in the court room at Vintners' Hall. His will, dated 20 Jan. 1700, with a codicil of 28 July 1707 (Lane, 44), mentions the manor of Wasperton in Warwickshire, and his ancestral property in Graysdale, Lancashire. He married Mary, eldest daughter of Richard Taylor, of Turnham Green, who kept the Devil tavern by the Temple. She was buried in St. Dionis Church on 1 March 1724–5. By her Rawlinson had fifteen children. His sons Thomas [q. v.] and Richard [q. v.] are noticed separately.
A grandson, Sir Thomas Rawlinson (d. 1769), also lord mayor of London, was son of Rev. Robert Rawlinson of Charlwood, Surrey, and his grandfather Daniel Rawlinson was the first Sir Thomas Rawlinson's first cousin. He was elected alderman of Broad Street ward in 1746, and sheriff of London and Middlesex on Midsummer day 1748. He became a member of the Grocer's Company, and served the office of master. On the death, on 27 Nov. 1753, of Edward Ironside, lord mayor, soon after accession to office, Rawlinson was elected lord mayor for the remainder of the year. He was knighted in 1760, was colonel of the Red regiment of trained bands, and was a prominent member of the Honourable Artillery Company, to which he presented in 1763 a ‘sheet of red colours.’ He was elected vice-president of the company in July 1766 (Raikes, Hist. of the Hon. Artillery Company, ii. 10, 13). He died at his house in Fenchurch Street on 3 Dec. 1769, and his will, dated 3 Aug. in that year, was proved on 18 Dec. He was buried at Haughley, Suffolk. He lived latterly at his estate of Stowlangtoft Hall in Suffolk, which he bought in 1760. He married his first cousin, Dorothea, daughter of Rev. Richard Ray of Haughley, Suffolk; born 31 July 1704, she died 12 June 1743. His only daughter, Susannah, married Sir George Wombwell, bart. A son Sir Walter inherited his Suffolk estates, married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Ladbroke, lord mayor of London, and became a partner in the firm of Ladbroke, Robinson & Co., bankers. Walter Rawlinson was elected alderman of Dowgate in 1773, and resigned in 1777. He was also president of Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals. He was knighted in 1774, and represented Queenborough in parliament from 1774 to 1784, and Huntingdon from 1784 to 1790. He died without issue at Devonshire Place, London, on 13 March 1805.
C. W-h.
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.231 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Page | Col. | Line | |
| 334 | i | 20 | Rawlinson, Sir Thomas (1647-1708): for A grandson read A second cousin |
| | | 22-23 | for of the elder Sir Thomas's . . . . in 1732). read of the Rev. Robert Rawlinson of Charlwood, Surrey, and his grandfather Daniel Rawlinson was the first Sir Thomas Rawlinson' s first cousin. |
| | | 18-15 f.e. | for He was twice married . . . . mason of Sudbury. read He was buried at Haughley, Suffolk. He married his first cousin Dorothea (1704-43), daughter of the Rev. Richard Ray of Haughley, Suffolk. |
| | | 13 f.e. | for Walter read Sir Walter |
| | | 12 f.e. | after estates, insert married Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Ladbroke, lord mayor of London, |