Thomas Erle Drax

'''Thomas Erle Drax''' (1721 – December 1789) was an English Tory politician. He served as a Member of Parliament for constituencies in Dorset in the 18th century.<ref name="Legacies of British Slave-ownership">{{Cite web|title=Summary of Individual {{!}} Legacies of British Slave-ownership|url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146650133|access-date=2020-06-05|website=www.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> He was the son of Henry Drax, British MP and owner of slave plantations in Barbados and Jamaica.

== Political career == Drax was MP for Corfe Castle from 1744 to 1747, and went on to be MP for Wareham between 1761 and March 1768.<ref name="Legacies of British Slave-ownership" />

== Slave ownership ==

Drax owned plantations in Barbados and Jamaica, and he represented the interests of the planter class in the House of Commons.<ref name="Legacies of British Slave-ownership" />

== Personal life == He was a member of the Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax family and lived at Charborough House.<ref>{{Cite web|title=DRAX, Thomas Erle (?1721–89), of Charborough, Dorset {{!}} History of Parliament Online|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/member/drax-thomas-erle-1721-89|access-date=2020-06-05|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000713 Charborough House]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drax, Thomas Erle}} Category:1721 births Category:1789 deaths Category:British MPs 1741–1747 Category:British MPs 1761–1768 Thomas Erle Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Wareham Category:Politicians from Dorset Category:People from Wareham, Dorset Category:Tory MPs (pre-1834)