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Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford

British politician (1794-1878)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ332731 ↗
Source-derived summary

Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford, PC, FRS (25 April 1794 – 5 October 1878) was a British jurist and Conservative politician. He was twice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Early life

Born in London, Thesiger was the third son of Charles Thesiger, collector of customs at St Vincent, West Indies, by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of Theophilus Williams. His paternal grandfather, John Andrew Thesiger, was born in Saxony but migrated to England and became secretary to Lord Rockingham. Thesiger's uncle Sir Frederick Thesiger was naval aide-de-camp to Lord Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

Career

Thesiger was originally destined for a naval career, and he served as a midshipman on HMS Cambrian in 1807 at the second bombardment of Copenhagen. His only surviving brother died about this time, however, and he became entitled to succeed to a valuable estate in the West Indies. It was decided that he should leave the navy and study law with a view to practising in the West Indies and eventually managing his property in person. He proceeded to enter at Gray's Inn in 1813, and was called to the bar on 18 November 1818. He joined the home circuit, and soon got into good practice at the Surrey sessions, while he also made a fortunate purchase in buying the right to appear in the old palace court (see Lord Steward).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford” as british politician (1794-1878). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Frederic, Thesiger and Baron.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1794, 1878, 1801, 1807—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1794-04-25. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Frederic, Thesiger and Baron providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford”, the useful work is to connect “british politician (1794-1878)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q332731. VIAF identifies the subject as 58640489. The Library of Congress control number is no91002711. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1794, 1878, 1801 and 1807.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford primary sources, Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford archive and Frederic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.