TALBOT, THOMAS, army and militia officer, settlement promoter, office holder, and politician; b. 19 July 1771 in Malahide.

An aristocrat by birth, Thomas Talbot was descended from a noble Anglo-Irish family which had ancestral lands in Ireland dating from the 12th century. He was the fourth son in a family of twelve children and enjoyed a secure childhood in Malahide Castle, the family seat where he received his early education. On 24 May 1783, at the age of 11, he was commissioned ensign in the 66th Foot. With the American revolution ending, he was retired on half pay shortly after his promotion to lieutenant on 27 September. He then resumed his formal education, attending for several years Manchester Free Public School in England which had many paying pupils from well-to-do families. In 1787 he was selected, through family influence, as an aide-de-camp to a distant relative, the Marquess of Buckingham, lord lieutenant of Ireland. Talbot thereupon assumed the commission of lieutenant in the 24th Foot. During his two and a half years of service under Buckingham, he became fast friends with a fellow.