Thomas Whately (1726 – 26 May 1772), an English politician and writer, was a Member of Parliament (1761–1768), who served as Commissioner on the Board of Trade, as Secretary to the Treasury under Lord Grenville, and as Under-secretary of State under Lord North (1771–1772). As an MP he published a letter on the reasonableness of the Stamp Act, 1765, which earns him a place in the events that led to the American Revolution. He is probably best remembered for his Observations on Modern Gardening, illustrated by descriptions (London, 1770), the most important and successful contemporary book on the English Landscape Garden style, translated into German and French by the following year. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas Whately of Epsom, Surrey and educated at Clare College, Cambridge (1745). He entered the Middle Temple in 1742 to study law and was called to the bar in 1751. He was an elder brother of the cleric Joseph Whately of Nonsuch Park, Surrey, and thus the uncle of Richard Whately. For many years he was in the close confidence of George Grenville, to whom he passed the political gossip. He also corresponded with Lord Temple, Lord George Sackville, and James Harris, M.P. Whately sat in parliament from 1761 to 1768 for the borough of Ludgershall in Wiltshire, and from 1768 until his death he represented the borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. From 5 April 1764 until its dismissal in July 1765 he held the post of secretary to the treasury in George Grenville's administration, before going into opposition. On Grenville's death in November 1770, Whately attached himself to Lord North, and acted as the go-between for his old patron's friends. Junius denounced him as possessing "the talents of an attorney" and "the agility of Colonel Bodens" (who could scarcely move), and for deserting Grenville's cause. He was appointed a commissioner on the board of trade in January 1771, the keeper of his Majesty's private roads in January 1772, and under-secretary of state for the northern department in June 1771. These appointments he held for the rest of his life. Whately died unmarried and intestate on 26 May 1772; his brother, William Whately, a banker in Lombard Street, London, administered to the effects. Political writings Whately was the author of Remarks on "The Budget," or a Candid Examination of the Facts and Arguments in that Pamphlet (1765), rebutting David Hartley's attack