Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th baronet was the only surviving son of Sir Charles Lyttelton, 3rd baronet, and inherited the family estates at Frankley, Halesowen, Hagley, and Upper Arley on the death of his father in 1716. Sir Thomas was elected as one of the Members of Parliament for Worcestershire in 1721, serving until 1734, then for Camelford until 1741. He held office as one of the Lords of the Admiralty from 1727 to 1741.The Lyttelton family were among the earliest known patrons of Wilson and his portrait of Sir Thomas (destroyed by fire in 1925, not illustrated) must have been painted before the artist's departure for Italy, probably about 1745. Lyttelton's illegitimate son, Thomas Smith, was also portrayed by Wilson (see P9 and P9A).
There are numerous references to Sir Thomas and a reproduction of Wilson's portrait of him in M. Wyndham, Chronicles of the Eighteenth Century, 2 vols, London, 1924.
