Thomas Sidney

Thomas Sidney (5 January 1805 – 10 March 1889) was a British Liberal Party and Conservative Party politician, and tea merchant. Family and early life Born in Stafford in 1805 to William Sidney and his wife Ann, Sidney was educated at Stafford Grammar School, becoming a tea importer and merchant on Ludgate Hill in 1838. He first married to Sarah Hall, daughter of William Hall, in 1831, and they one daughter, Ellen (born ). After Sarah's death in 1857, he remarried to Eleanor Mary Ward, daughter of W. Ward, on 12 January 1860. He had at least one other child, Thomas Stafford. Political career Sidney's political career began as City Councillor of the City of London for Farringdon Ward for 1843 to 1844, and then as alderman of Billingsgate in 1844, a position he held for 36 years. He was also appointed Sheriff of the City of London and Middlesex in 1844, and Lord Mayor of London from 1853 to 1854. Incidentally, he was followed in this role by Francis Moon, the father of his son-in-law Reverend Edward Graham Moon, who had married his daughter Ellen.