Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth

Liddell was the son of Sir Henry Liddell, 5th Baronet,[1] and his wife Elizabeth Steele, a daughter of Thomas Steele of Hampsnett.[2] His younger brother Henry Liddell, Rector of Easington (1787–1872), was father of a younger Henry Liddell, co-author (with Robert Scott) of the monumental work A Greek-English Lexicon, and father of the Alice who inspired Alice in Wonderland.

He succeeded his father in the baronetcy and to the family estates at Ravensworth Castle and Eslington Park and to extensive coal mining interests in 1791. He was High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1804 and served as Tory Member of Parliament for County Durham between 1806 and 1807.[3] On 17 July 1821 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Ravensworth, of Ravensworth Castle in the County Palatine of Durham and of Eslington Park in the County of Northumberland.[4]

At Ravensworth he demolished the old 1724 house in 1808 and replaced it with a substantial mansion in the Gothic style designed by architect John Nash. He also employed George Stephenson from 1804 at his Killingworth colliery and encouraged and financed him in the development of steam power which was vital for the improvement of the efficiency of the wagonways which transported coal from the pit to the River Tyne.

Maria, Baroness Ravensworth

On 26 March 1796, Thomas married Maria Susannah Simpson (1773–1845). She was a daughter of John Simpson, of Bradley Hall, Co. Durham, and Lady Anne Lyon. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Jean Nicholsen. Together, they had twelve children:[2]

• Henry Thomas Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth (1797–1878).[5]
• Maria Liddell (1798–1882), who married Constantine Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby.[6]
• Thomas Liddell (1800–1856), who married Caroline Elizabeth Barrington, daughter of George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington.[7]
• Anne Elizabeth Liddell (1801–1878), who married Sir Hedworth Williamson, 7th Baronet.[2]
• Jane Elizabeth Liddell (1804–1883), who married William Keppel Barrington, 6th Viscount Barrington.[7]
• Elizabeth Charlotte Liddell (1807–1890), who married Edward Ernest Villiers, a son of George Villiers and grandson of Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon.[8] Their daughter Edith Villiers married Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton.[9]
• Robert Liddell (1808–1888), who married Emily Ann Charlotte Wellesley, a daughter of Gerald Wellesley and granddaughter of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington.[10]
• Susan Liddell (1810–1886), who married Charles Yorke, 4th Earl of Hardwicke.[11]
• George Augustus Frederick Liddell (1812–1888), who married Cecil Elizabeth Jane Wellesley, another daughter of Gerald Wellesley and granddaughter of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington.[10]
• Charlotte Amelia Liddell (1814–1883), who married Captain John Trotter (2nd Lifeguards) of Dyrham Park and had issue.[2]
• Adolphus Frederick Octavious Liddell (1818–1885), who married Frederica Elizabeth Lane-Fox, daughter of George Lane-Fox and Georgiana Henrietta Buckley. Georgiana was a granddaughter of John West, 2nd Earl De La Warr.[12]
• Georgiana Liddell (1822–1905), who married John Arthur Douglas Bloomfield, 2nd Baron Bloomfield.[2]

He died in March 1855, aged 80,[2] and was succeeded in his titles by his son Henry, who was created Earl of Ravensworth in 1874.[5][13]

Liddell was portrayed as the character of Lord Ravensworth by actor Terence Alexander in the 1985 Doctor Who serial The Mark of the Rani.[14]

• His profile in Peerage.com
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Liddell