Wharton, Thomas, 1st Marquess of Wharton (1648–1715)

English Protestant politician, a leading supporter of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 that installed William (III) of Orange on the throne. In 1714, seeking to ensure a Protestant line of succession to the English throne, he was foremost in proclaiming the Hanoverian George I king.

Wharton was a commissioner for the union with Scotland in 1706, and in that year was given an earldom. For his advocacy of the Hanoverian succession, he was rewarded by being made a marquess and given the office of lord privy seal. He was reputed to be the author of the satirical song ‘Lilliburlero’, which mocked the appointment of the Jacobite Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, as lord-deputy of Ireland in 1687.