thumb|Portrait of Lord Gage
Thomas Gage, 1st Viscount Gage (c. 1695 – 21 December 1754) was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1717 and 1754.
Early life
Gage was the eldest son of Joseph Gage of Shirburn Castle and Elizabeth Penruddock, the daughter and heiress of Sir George Penruddock. He succeeded his father-in-law to High Meadow in 1714.
He converted to the Church of England in 1715, perhaps to enable him to sit in parliament.
Career
Gage was elected Member of Parliament for Minehead at a by-election on 11 April 1717, but was unseated on petition on 23 May 1717. On 14 September 1720, King George I created him Baron Gage of Castlebar in the county of Mayo, and Viscount Gage of Castle Island in the county of Kerry of the Kingdom of Ireland.
Gage was elected MP for Tewkesbury at a by-election on 25 October 1721 and was elected again at the 1722 general election. In his first session of this parliament, he made several speeches against the special tax on Papists. In April 1727 he spoke for the motion for a vote of credit. He was returned again at the 1727 general election. He exposed the fraudulent sale of the Derwentwater estates on 31 March 1732, and was subsequently rewarded with £2,000 for this under the Forfeited Estates (Greenwich Hospital) Act 1734 (8 Geo. 2. c. 29). At the 1734 general election, he was returned again as MP for Tewkesbury. He introduced a bill to prevent clandestine marriages, in 1736, but it was rejected. In 1738, it was rumoured that he was to be appointed as Governor of Barbados, but the appointment was never materialised, He went into opposition with Pulteney and the Patriot Whigs in 1739, but in February 1741, he was one of the opposition Whigs who withdrew on the motion for Walpole's removal. He was returned to parliament again at the 1741 general election.
Through his marriage to Benedicta, Thomas acquired wealthy estates in Gloucestershire in 1714 including High Meadow house, which became his principal residence, and the sinecure of Verderer of the Forest of Dean. Their marriage, although unfortunately unhappy,
2. General, the Hon. Thomas Gage, born on 10 March 1718/19 at Firle and christened on 31 March 1719 at Westminster St James, Middlesex, England.
3. Hon. Benedicta Maria Teresa Gage, married on 6 March 1755, at St George's, Hanover Sq, a catholic, George Tasburgh of Bodney, Norfolk, died without issue. having long been separated from Thomas, who married Jane Bond within a year of Benedicta's death.