Military officer and author.

Restless, quarrelsome eccentric. Visited Georgia (1735-37) and later helped manage the Georgia trustees’ affairs in England. Served briefly as a lieutenant in an independent military company in Jamaica (1740). Captain- lieutenant of marines (1741). Lieutenant governor of Landguard Fort in Suffolk (1753-66). Patron of Thomas Gainsborough (1754-74). Voluminous writer; his most distinguished works were accounts of his travels in Georgia, Jamaica, and continental Europe.

Son of Rev. John and Joyce (Blencowe) Thicknesse of Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire. Married (1) Maria Lanove (1742). Married (2) Elizabeth Touchet (1749); six children. Married (3) Anne Ford, a well-known musician (1762); two children.