Thomas Erle
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Thomas Erle c 1650-1720, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance was born in about 1650, the second son of Thomas Erle of Charborough, Dorset. In 1678 he became MP for Wareham, then on 27 May 1685 was made Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset. In 1686 he hosted group of conspirators who met at Charborough House to plan the overthrow of "the tyrant race of Stuarts", which resulted in the overthrow of James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau, (William of Orange).
Thomas Ehle was the Colonel of a foot regiment and on 8 March 1689 was sent to Ireland to fight the combined French and Irish Army of the deposed King James II of England.
In 1690 he took part in the Battle of the Boyne and the Siege of Limerick,
In 1691 he took part in the Battle of Aughrim.
In 1692 he took part in an expedition to Flanders and on 3 August was Colonel of Luttrell's Regiment at the Battle of Steinkirk.
In 1693 Thomas Erle was promoted to Brigadier-General, fighting in the Battle of Landen on 22 March.
In 1694 Thomas Erle returned home as Governor of Portsmouth Hampshire, a position which he was to hold until 1712.
In 1696 he was made a Major-General
In 1698 he became MP for Portsmouth.
In 1699 he returned to Ireland as second in command to Lord Galway,
In 1700 he was both MP for Portsmouth once again and also Commander-in-Chief of Ireland.
In 1702 Erle was made a Lord Justice of Ireland and was MP for Wareham for a second time, then promoted to Lieutenant-General.
In 1703, he became MP for Cork in the Irish Parliament.
In 1705 Erle was made Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (a post which he held until 1712).
In January 1707 he took part in an expedition to Spain, fighting the Battle of Almanza on 23 April.
In 1708 he was sent on an expedition to France. He then returned home, serving as MP for Wareham once again.
In 1714 he became Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance for a second time and was also made Governor of Portsmouth, until 1718.
Erle died on 23 July 1720 and was buried at Charborough.
