Theophilus John Levett

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Theophilus John Levett (11 December 1829 – 27 February 1899) was a politician in the United Kingdom, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lichfield from 1880 to 1885.

Lichfield, Staffordshire, represented in Parliament by Capt. Theophilus Levett

Levett was the son of John Levett of Wychnor Park, Staffordshire and his wife Sophia Eliza Kennedy, the daughter of Hon. Robert Kennedy, third son of Archibald Kennedy, 11th Earl of Cassilis. Levett was a Captain in the 1st Life Guards and inherited Wychnor on the death of his father.^[1] He stood for parliament at Lichfield in 1880 but lost the seat in 1885. He was a JP and DL for Staffordsire and served on Staffordshire County Council for Lichfield from 1889 until his death in 1899. Originally from Sussex, Levett's ancestors came to Staffordshire in the eighteenth century.^[2]

Capt. Theophilus Levett was, not surprisingly for the age, a fox-hunter, and he was long associated with the Meynell hounds, the fox-hunting group established by Hugo Meynell, who had defeated Capt. Levett's father John when he ran to keep his seat in Parliament. "He was a remarkably good shot," noted an obituary of Levett, "and the way he used to work his coverts made the hearts of true sportsmen to rejoice." (The covert, in fox-hunting jargon, means a patch of woods or brush where a fox might be found.)

Levett married Lady Jane Lissey Harriet Feilding, daughter of William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh on January 10, 1856, and they had a son Theophilus, a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire who married Lady Margaret Emily Ashley-Cooper, daughter of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 8th Earl of Shaftesbury.