Thomas Lediard (Lediarde)

Thomas Lediard (1685–1743) was an English writer and surveyor.

Early in his life, he was attached to the staff of the Duke of Marlborough, particularly in 1707, on the occasion of the Duke’s visit to Charles XII of Sweden. He is assumed to have been there as a diplomat, an attaché to the embassy at Hamburg, seconded as a foreign secretary. He was then for many years secretary to the British envoy in Hamburg.

Lediard returned to England some time before 1732.In February 1738 he wrote a proposal for Westminster Bridge. Possibly as a consequence of this proposal, he was appointed Agent and Surveyor of Westminster Bridge. In 1742 the Crown lands from Westminster Bridge to Charing Cross were granted to him and Sir Joseph Ayloffe, to hold in trust to the Commissioners appointed to build the bridge. On 9 December 1742 Lediard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

 

 

Reference:

Thomas Lediarde to Hans Sloane, 1735-08-25, Sloane MS 4054f. 94, British Library, London

Thomas Lediard, Wikipedia, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lediard, accessed 03/09/2017]

J. K. Laughton, ‘Lediard, Thomas (1685–1743)’, rev. Alexander Du Toit, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16269, accessed 3 Sept 2017]



Dates: to

Occupation: Unknown

Relationship to Sloane: Virtual International Authority File: