READE, Sir Thomas, 4th Bt. (c.1684-1752), of Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxon.

Reade’s estates were some 20 miles from Cricklade, for which he was returned five times, after contesting Oxfordshire unsuccessfully in 1710. He is described by Hearne in 1710 as ‘a young gentleman that never had any literary education; he is a staunch Whig, a loose debauchee and has little or nothing of religion’.Hearne, Colls. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.), ii. 348. After 1715 he regularly voted with the Government, except on the peerage bill in 1719. On his death, 25 Sept. 1752, Henry Pelham referred to him as ‘an old servant of the King’s, and a very honest man, but he has been declining for many years’.To Newcastle, 29 Sept. 1752, Add. 32729, f. 396.