SCLATER, Thomas (?1664-1736), of Catley, Cambs.

Thomas Sclater, a practising barrister, assumed the name of Bacon about 1716, on marrying a considerable heiress who was in his charge. Much increasing her fortune, as well as the estate which he had inherited from his great-uncle, he bought several large estates in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere, rebuilt Catley House, and amassed a valuable collection of books, which was sold by auction after his death. Urged by Harley to stand for Cambridge University in 1710, he refused on the ground that he would split the church vote.HMC Portland, vi. 148-9; v. 93-94. After sitting for Bodmin in Anne’s last Parliament, he was brought in for Cambridge by Sir John Hynde Cotton in 1715, but was unseated on petition, declining to stand for the county at a by-election in 1718. From 1722 he represented Cambridge as a Tory, on Cotton’s interest, voting against the Government in all recorded divisions. He died intestate, 22 Aug. 1736, leaving a fortune said to amount to £200,000.Gent. Mag. 1736, p. 488. He presented four maces to the Cambridge corporation.