Thomas Sandys

Colonel Thomas Myles Sandys (12 May 1837 – 18 October 1911) was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1911.

He was born in Blackheath, and was the only son of Captain Thomas Sandys of the Royal Navy. Following education at Shrewsbury School, he was commissioned as an officer in the 73rd Bengal Native Infantry, a military unit of the Honourable East India Company. After fighting in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 he exchanged into the 7th (or Royal Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot, part of the regular British Army. He was to serve in the 7th Foot for twenty years, retiring with the rank of captain.

He moved to the family's ancestral home, Graythwaite Hall, near Ulverston, Lancashire. He continued his association with the armed forces as honorary colonel of the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, a position he held until 1897, and as honorary colonel of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the regiment from April 1902. He was a staunch Protestant, becoming Grand Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge of England and was a deputy lieutenant for the County of Lancashire.

In 1852, he leased the mining rights of his land at Roanhead to Kennedy Brothers. The mines were the among the most productive in the area and worked until 1942.

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