Thomas Gibson (banker)

Thomas Gibson (16 March 1667 – 21 September 1744) was an English banker and politician. A younger son of gentry from the North Riding of Yorkshire, he made his career as a banker in London and held finance-related public offices for most of his life.

Gibson was the fifth son of John Gibson of Welburn in Yorkshire,[1] whose ancestor Sir John Gibson had bought the manor of Welburn in 1597.[2] Thomas Gibson became a partner in the banking firm of Gibson, Jacob, and Jacomb of Lothbury in London, where he financed coal mines in the north of England.[1]

Gibson became surveyor of petty customs in London in 1708. Through the bank he developed a friendship with Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister from 1721 to 1742, who appointed him in 1714 as cashier to the pay office. Gibson held the office until his death.[1]

Walpole brought Gibson into the House of Commons at the 1722 general election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Marlborough.[3] He held that seat until he stood down at the 1734 general election, but was brought in two years later at an uncontested by-election for Yarmouth.[4] He held the seat until death on 21 September 1744, aged 67.[1]