Members
From the dissolution in 1715 to that in 1754 the number of men elected as Members of the House of Commons was 2,041, compared with 1,964 in the period 1754-90. The following lists and tables analyse, in summary form, the composition of the House, which in Namier Brooke is dealt with in the introductory survey.
Age and Parliamentary Experience
The number of Members in this period whose age on election is unknown is two and a half times greater than in the following period. It is probable that most of these had been born in the seventeenth century and that they belonged to all the age groups in the House. Even without such an adjustment to the known figures given below it is evident that the majority of Members in both periods were aged between 30 and 59, with slightly more Members in this period under 30 and fewer in the 50-59 group.
| General election |
Age | on | election | 1715-1754 | Age not known |
Returned for more than I constituency and vacant seats |
|||
| Under 30 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70-79 | Over 80 | |||
| 1715 | 94 | 149 | 126 | 92 | 34 | 8 | — | 40 | 15 |
| 1722 | 89 | 143 | 132 | 87 | 27 | 9 | — | 48 | 23 |
| 1727 | 99 | 156 | 136 | 67 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 34 | 26 |
| 1734 | 88 | 132 | 138 | 96 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 38 | 17 |
| 1741 | 86 | 128 | 160 | 81 | 45 | 11 | — | 32 | 15 |
| 1747 | 101 | 120 | 127 | 103 | 44 | 1 | 11 | 26 | 25 |
| Totals | 557 | 828 | 819 | 526 | 223 | 53 | 3 | 218 | 121 |
| 1754-90 | 546 | 854 | 834 | 642 | 247 | 65 | 12 | 88 | 60 |
In the 1715 Parliament about one-third of the Members were replaced at by-elections or on petition; in the other five Parliaments the proportions varied between a quarter and one-fifth. Well over one-third of the Members in each of the six Parliaments were new Members with no previous parliamentary experience.
The average tenure of a seat among all Members was just under 15 years 6 months. 14 Members sat for 50 years or more, including William Aislabie who represented Ripon for 60 years; 51 sat for between 40 and 49 years; and 58 sat for less than one year, including Capt. Edward Legge, R.N., who died in the West Indies on 19 Sept. 1747, some three months before he was elected for Portsmouth, 15 Dec. following.
The following 21 Members are known to have been returned under the age of 21, as compared with 13 in the following period:
| Hon. Henry Bathurst | Charles Ingram |
| Hon. Hugh Boscawen | Lord John Johnstone |
| Hon. Charles Sloane Cadogan | Sir William Morice |
| Lord Carnarvon | Hon. Charles Ross |
| Hon. Brownlow Cecil | Lord John Philip Sackville |
| Hon. John Cornwallis | Sir John St. Aubyn, 3rd Bt. |
| Francis Henry Drake | Sir John St. Aubyn, 4th Bt. |
| Theophilus Fortescue | Lord Strathnaver |
| Sir Robert Gordon | William Trevanion |
| Lord Granby | Hon. Philip Yorke |
| Lord Harley |
In addition four Members are known to have been returned under age at by-elections:
| John Campbell (of Rosneath) | Charles Fitzroy |
| Edward Digby | Lord Stanhope |
Members sitting for less than one year:
| John Basset | Hon. Mildmay Fane |
| Charles Bathurst | John Fermor (16 days) |
| Willoughby Bertie | Lord Fitzwilliam |
| John Blackwood | John Floyer |
| William Breton | Robert Gayer |
| James Brodie | Alexander Gordon |
| William Burroughs | Thomas Grenville |
| Lord James Cavendish | Sir Thomas Gresley (23 days) |
| Hon. Brownlow Cecil (16 days) | John Gumley |
| Francis Chute | Samuel Gumley |
| John Cotton | Lord William Hamilton |
| Sir Robert Cowan (12 days) | Sir Charles Hardy |
| Charles Crisp | Henry Herbert |
| Sir Edward Duke | Richard Jackson |
| Samuel Edwin | Paul Jodrell |
| Francis Elde | Hon. Edward Legge (dead at election) |
| James Erskine | Hon. Charles Lumley |
| John Essington | Hon. Thomas Lyon |
| Lord Sherard Manners | Samuel Rush |
| William Mayo | John Sabine |
| John Montagu | Thomas Boothby Skrymsher |
| Lord Morpeth | William Sneyd |
| John Noel | John Strangways |
| Sir Edward O’Brien | Sir Thomas Style |
| Lord Ossulston | Thomas Swanton |
| Mansel Powell | Darell Trelawny |
| Isaac Lemyng Rebow | Charles Vanbrugh |
| George Robinson | William Charles van Hals |
| John Rogers | Sir Marmaduke Wyvill |
Members sitting for 40 years and more:
| Years | |
| William Aislabie | 60 |
| Edward Ashe | 52 |
| Sir John Astley | 44 |
| Edward Bacon | 41 |
| Benjamin Bathurst | 53 |
| Edward Bayntun Rolt | 43 |
| Walter Blackett | 43 |
| Sir Roger Bradshaigh | 52 |
| Henry Bridgeman | 46 |
| George Bubb Dodington | 46 |
| John Calvert | 48 |
| John Campbell (of Calder) | 40 |
| John Campbell (of Mamore) | 45 |
| Thomas Cartwright | 50 |
| Lord George Augustus Cavendish | 42 |
| William Richard Chetwynd | 48 |
| Sir William Codrington | 45 |
| Hon. Henry Seymour Conway | 42 |
| Velters Cornewall | 46 |
| Sir John Hynde Cotton | 44 |
| Conyers Darcy | 43 |
| Sir William Drake | 50 |
| William Rawlinson Earle | 40 |
| Richard Edgcumbe | 41 |
| William Edwardes | 53 |
| Welbore Ellis | 52 |
| John Evelyn | 40 |
| Hon. Edward Finch | 41 |
| Charles Fitzroy | 49 |
| Charles Frederick | 43 |
| Francis Gwyn | 43 |
| Phillips Gybbon | 54 |
| William Gerard Hamilton | 42 |
| John Harris | 40 |
| Hon. Robert Sawyer Herbert | 46 |
| Sir Justinian Isham | 40 |
| Edwin Lascelles | 45 |
| Thomas Lewis (of Harpton) | 46 |
| James Lowther | 54 |
| William Maule | 47 |
| Sir Charles Mordaunt | 40 |
| Thomas Morgan | 46 |
| Richard Myddelton | 41 |
| Thomas Noel | 48 |
| Sir John Norris | 41 |
| Robert Nugent | 43 |
| Arthur Onslow | 41 |
| William Owen | 52 |
| John Plumptre | 43 |
| Lord William Powlett | 40 |
| Richard Rigby | 43 |
| Samuel Rolle | 47 |
| Sir John Rushout | 55 |
| Lord George Sackville | 41 |
| George Augustus Selwyn | 44 |
| Richard Shuttleworth | 44 |
| Henry Slingsby | 41 |
| Hon. Thomas Townshend | 52 |
| Sir Charles Turner | 43 |
| Robert Vyner | 40 |
| Horatio Walpole | 45 |
| Robert Walpole | 40 |
| Edward Wortley Montagu | 54 |
| William Yonge | 40 |
| John Yorke | 42 |
EDUCATION
The schools attended by 519 Members are known. This figure allows for six who attended more schools than one and includes nine who received their schooling abroad. Schools attended by more than one Member were: Westminster (167), Eton (162), Winchester (31), Merchant Taylors (11), St. Paul’s (11), Rugby (9), Bury St. Edmunds grammar school (8), Charterhouse (7), Dr. Uvedale’s at Enfield (7), Dr. Newcome’s at Hackney (7), Harrow (4), Shrewsbury (3).
Nearly half the Members (996) attended a university, of whom 26 attended more universities than one. The figures are: Oxford 596, Cambridge 318, Glasgow 28, Leyden 26, Edinburgh 19, Utrecht 13, Trinity College Dublin 8, Aberdeen 7, St. Andrews 3, other foreign universities 4.
Ninety-six Members are known to have gone on the Grand Tour.
DISSENTERS
Of those Members who are known to have been dissenters or had a dissenting background, several must have conformed to the established church as part of the normal rise in the social scale. Among the 28 given below John Barnard is said to have abandoned the Quaker faith in early youth and William Wildman Barrington, John Caswall, Caleb Lomax and Abraham Elton were the sons of dissenting Members. Scotch Presbyterians and men of Huguenot descent have not been included in the following list which cannot be regarded as comprehensive:
| John Bance | Sir Henry Hoghton |
| John Barnard | Samuel Holden |
| John, Lord Barrington | Charles Lockyer |
| William Wildman, Lord Barrington | Thomas Lockyer |
| Nathaniel Brassey | Caleb Lomax |
| Stamp Brooksbank | Joshua Lomax |
| George Caswall | John London |
| John Caswall | Sir William Middleton |
| Josiah Diston | Nathaniel Newnham |
| Sir Abraham Elton | Thomas Newnham |
| Abraham Elton | John Raymond |
| John Gould | Dudley Ryder |
| Nathaniel Gould | Samuel Stephens |
| Nathaniel Gould | John White |
PLACEMEN AND PENSIONERS
The tables in notes IV, XIII, XVIII, and XXXIII to the introductory survey, show that about a third of the House of Commons consisted of placemen, including a few professional civil servants, diplomats, army and naval officers, servants of the Prince of Wales, and government contractors, as well as holders of political and court offices. Under the Place Act of 1742 three commissioners of revenue in Ireland (Sir William Corbet, William Glanville, and Lord Galway), three commissioners of the navy (Francis Gashry, James Oswald, George Crowle), three commissioners of victualling (Thomas Brereton, William Hay, Thomas Revell), the commissioner-general of stores and provisions, Gibraltar (John Hampden), the receiver-general of revenue, Minorca (Hon. Charles Hamilton), and deputy-paymaster, Minorca (Sir Francis Poole), had to choose between giving up their seats or their places. Two former Members (Philip Anstruther and Roger Handasyde) held Minorca offices. All but two, Crowle and Lord Galway, gave up their places to stand for Parliament. The loss was more than repaired in the next Parliament by an increase in the numbers of army officers and contractors. The Place Act also disqualified clerks in these and other government offices, with the exception of the secretaries of the Treasury and Admiralty, and the under-secretaries to secretaries of state, who were generally, though not invariably, professional civil servants.
Professional civil servants during this period were William Lowndes, John Scrope, James West and Nicholas Hardinge, secretaries of the Treasury, Josiah Burchett, Thomas Corbett and John Clevland, secretaries of the Admiralty, and Andrew Stone and Claudius Amyand, under-secretaries to secretaries of state. The only other officials who became Members before the Place Act of 1742 were Henry Kelsall and Christopher Tilson, senior clerks in the Treasury, and Thomas Pearce and John Phillipson, both of whom for a time combined the positions of clerks in the Navy Office with those of directors of the South Sea Company.
Thirty-four Members held diplomatic posts. In the following list those who may be regarded as semi-professional or career diplomatists are marked with an asterisk:
| George Bubb Dodington | Sir Paul Methuen |
| Sir George Byng | *Thomas Pelham |
| William Cadogan | Daniel Pulteney |
| George Carpenter | *Thomas Robinson |
| William Cayley (a consul) | James Stanhope |
| *John Chetwynd | John Stanhope |
| Hon. Charles Fane | *William Stanhope |
| *Hon. Edward Finch | *Abraham Stanyan |
| *Hon. William Finch | Richard Sutton |
| Lord Forbes | *Sir Robert Sutton |
| Lord Glenorchy | *Thomas Villiers |
| John Hedges | *Horatio Walpole |
| *Benjamin Keene | Thomas Wentworth |
| Hon. Henry Legge | *Lord Whitworth |
| Isaac Le Heup | Edward Wortley Montagu |
| Hon. Thomas Lumley (afterwards Saunderson) | Edward Wortley Montagu jun. |
| Thomas Mathews | *Joseph Yorke |
Owing to the disappearance of the secret service books of all the prime ministers of this period the only Members known to have received payments in lieu of offices are those referred to on p. 27, and in the following list of pensions in March 1754 in the Newcastle papers:1Add. 33038 f. 415.
| Mr. A’Court | 500 |
| Col. Mordaunt | 800 |
| Money chair [J. S. Charlton] | 500 |
| Sir Francis Poole | 400 |
| Mr. E[dgcumb]e | 500 |
| Mr. Hampden | 1,000 |
| Mr. Hay | 500 |
| Mr. Luke Robinson | 600 |
| Mr. Brereton Salusbury | 500 |
| Mr. Jenyns | 600 |
| Mr. Burrard | 500 |
| Sir D[unca]n Campbell | 400 |
| Sir William Middleton | 800 |
| Mr. Medlycott | 600 |
| Lord Lyon [A. Brodie] | 300 |
| Mr. [Peregrine] Poulett | 400 |
| Mr. [Horsemonden] Turner | 500 |
| Mr. Harrison | 500 |
| Mr. Carmichael | 400 |
| Mr. Neale | 500 |
| Capt. Mackay | 300 |
| Mr. Kerr | 300 |
| Mr. Stert | 600 |
| Col. Pelham | 500 |
| Mr. Winnington | 500 |
| Mr. Watson of Berwick | 500 |
| Mr. Stuart | 200 |
| Mq. of Winchester | 500 |
| £13,900 |
All the 28 names in the list are those of Members of the 1747 House of Commons, though two of them, Poulett and Turner, had died in 1752-3. A companion list of ‘pensions in March 1755’ shows that it cannot have been drawn up before that date. Another undated list of ‘pensions saved since April 1754’2Add. 33038 f. 357. contains the name of ‘Mr. Erskine’, probably James Erskine, who is not shown in the list of March 1754. As there were 197 placemen in the 1747 House of Commons, the existence of nearly 30 pensioners goes some way towards justifying Pulteney’s statement in a debate on 2 Feb. 1733 that ‘besides 200 Members and more which he can name who have employments, employments in trust, or pensions, ... there are also above 50 military officers sitting there’.3HMC Egmont Diary, i. 323.
ARMY OFFICERS
Army officers were treated as placemen, liable to dismissal on political grounds. At the Hanoverian succession attempts to purge the army of high-ranking Tory officers were resisted by George I till the outbreak of the rebellion of 1715, when four Members (Lord Barrymore, Charles Ross, Richard Sutton, and John Richmond Webb) and two ex-Members (Sir Henry Goring and Andrews Windsor) were dismissed or ordered to sell their regiments. In 1717 seven army officers (Charles Churchill, John Campbell, Giles Earle, Alexander Grant, John Middleton, John Montgomerie, and Sir Robert Rich) met with similar treatment for voting against the Government in the division on Lord Cadogan. When in 1733 Walpole deprived two of his opponents, the Duke of Bolton and Lord Cobham, of their regiments, he justified his action on the ground that ‘any minister must be a pitiful fellow who would not show military officers that their employments were not held on any surer tenure than those of civil officers’.4Hervey, Mems. 707. An opposition bill for making army officers not above the rank of colonel irremoveable except by court martial or on an address from either House was defeated without a division in 1734. In 1736 William Pitt was deprived of his cornet’s commission and in 1737 Lord Westmorland of a troop of Life Guards which he had bought for £6,500 but was not allowed to sell. The Place Act of 1742, excluding a number of office holders, did not apply to army officers. In 1747 one of the promises made by the Prince of Wales to secure the support of the Tories was to promote a bill to exclude all army officers under the rank of colonels of regiments and naval officers under the rank of rear-admiral from sitting in the House of Commons, but nothing came of it.
No more army officers were dismissed for political reasons during this period, though two (William Strickland and Charles Ross) spoke and voted against the Government on the Hanoverians in 1744, and two others (Richard Lyttelton and George Townshend), started an attack in the House of Commons on the Duke of Cumberland as captain-general in 1749.
The following 182 army officers were Members during this period.
| Alexander Abercromby | William Cadogan |
| James Abercromby | Charles Campbell |
| William A’Court | Sir James Campbell |
| Lord Ancram | Hon. James Campbell |
| Philip Anstruther | James Campbell |
| Lord Barrymore | John Campbell (of Mamore) |
| Gregory Beake | John Campbell (of Rosneath) |
| Lord George Beauclerk | Patrick Campbell |
| Lord Henry Beauclerk | William Campbell |
| Lord William Beauclerk | Sir James Carnegie |
| Lord George Bentinck | George Carpenter (d.1732) |
| Hon. Henry Berkeley | George Carpenter (d.1749) |
| Lord Robert Bertie | Lord Frederick Cavendish |
| Maurice Bocland | Lord James Cavendish |
| Hon. George Boscawen | Hon. James Cholmondeley |
| Hon. John Boscawen | Charles Churchill (d.1745) |
| Phineas Bowles | Charles Churchill (d.1812) |
| William Bray | Courthorpe Clayton |
| Lord Bury | Thomas Cochrane |
| Charles Cadogan | Hon. Henry Seymour Conway |
| John Cope | Daniel Leighton |
| Henry Cornewall | Sir Samuel Lennard |
| Hon. Edward Cornwallis | Hon. Thomas Leslie |
| Hon. Stephen Cornwallis | John Louis Ligonier |
| John Dalrymple | Thomas Littleton |
| Sir Tristram Dillington | Philip Lloyd |
| Hon. Robert Douglas | Henry Lumley |
| William Douglas | Hon. John Lumley |
| William Duckett | Richard Lyttelton |
| Giles Earle | Hon. George Mackay |
| Hon. William Egerton | Lord Robert Manners |
| William Elliot | Lord Robert Manners Sutton |
| Cuthbert Ellison | Lord March |
| Thomas Erle | William Maule |
| Sir Henry Erskine | John Maxwell |
| James Erskine | John Middleton |
| Thomas Erskine | Hon. Robert Monckton |
| William Erskine | Edward Montagu |
| Richard Evans | John Montagu |
| Francis Eyles | John Montgomerie |
| Hon. Robert Fairfax | Hon. Harry Mordaunt |
| Hon. John Fane | John Mordaunt |
| Thomas Ferrers | Hon. John Mordaunt |
| Charles Fitzroy | Anthony Morgan |
| John Gore | Maurice Morgan |
| Lord Granby | John Mostyn |
| Alexander Grant | Sir Harry Munro |
| John Griffin | John Munro |
| Samuel Gumley | Robert Munro |
| George Haldane | Lord James Murray |
| Peter Halkett | Lord John Murray |
| James Halyburton | Hon. Robert Murray |
| Roger Handasyde | James Edward Oglethorpe |
| Daniel Harvey | Richard Onslow |
| Lord Charles Hay | Lord Ossulston |
| Richard Herbert | Adolphus Oughton |
| Hon. Thomas Herbert | John Owen |
| Hon. William Herbert | Thomas Paget |
| Lord Hertford | John Pepper |
| Lord Hinchingbrooke | John Pitt |
| Henry Holmes | Thomas Pitt |
| John Hope | William Pitt |
| Sir Charles Hotham, 4th Bt. | Sir Robert Pollock |
| Sir Charles Hotham, 5th Bt. | Charles Powlett |
| Hon. Charles Howard | Charles Armand Powlett |
| Lord Howe | Lord Harry Powlett |
| Hon. Charles Ingram | Lord Nassau Powlett |
| Clement Kent | Harry Pulteney |
| Hon. William Kerr | George Reade |
| Thomas King | Sir Robert Rich |
| Thomas Robinson | Richard Sutton |
| Hon. Charles Ross (d.1732) | Hon. George Townshend |
| Hon. Charles Ross (d.1745) | Hon. Roger Townshend |
| John Sabine | Hon. William Townshend |
| Joseph Sabine | George Treby |
| Lord George Sackville | James Tyrrell |
| Lord John Philip Sackville | Duncan Urquhart |
| Hon. James St. Clair | Henry Vane |
| James Scott | George Wade |
| Lord Shannon | Hon. John Waldegrave |
| James Stanhope | Lord Wallingford |
| William Stanhope | Hon. Bluett Wallop |
| Hon. William Stanhope | John Richmond Webb |
| John Stanwix | Thomas Wentworth |
| Thomas Stanwix | Hon. John West |
| Hon. James Stewart | Thomas Whetham |
| Hon. John Stewart (d1748) | William Whitmore |
| Hon. John Stewart (d.1796) | Charles Wills |
| Hon. William Stewart | Sir John Wittewrong |
| William Strickland | Edward Wortley Montagu |
| James Stuart | Hon. Joseph Yorke |
NAVAL OFFICERS
Naval officers in the House of Commons, like their army counterparts, were expected to vote with the Government. Those who voted with the Opposition were liable to be deprived of their commands, like Sir John Norris, or passed over for promotion, like Edward Vernon. Among the terms offered to the Tories by the Prince of Wales in 1747 was the promotion of a bill for excluding naval officers under the rank of rear admiral from sitting in the House of Commons.5Owen, Pelhams, 312-13. In 1749 Sir John Norris presented and Sir Peter Warren supported a petition signed by three admirals and forty-seven captains, not Members of the House, against a proposal to make half-pay naval officers subject to court martial, which achieved its object.6Coxe, Pelham, ii. 64.
The following 54 naval officers were Members during this period.
| Matthew Aylmer | Charles Cornwall |
| Hercules Baker | Hon. James Cornwallis |
| John Baker | Francis Delaval |
| Lord Vere Beauclerk | George Delaval |
| Hon. Edward Boscawen | Hon. George Edgcumbe |
| Sir George Byng | Lord Augustus Fitzroy |
| Hon. John Byng | Lord Forbes |
| Philip Cavendish | Thomas Frankland |
| St. John Charlton | Lord George Graham |
| Thomas Grenville | George Purvis |
| Nicholas Haddock | Nicholas Robinson |
| Sir Charles Hardy | George Brydges Rodney |
| Edward Hawke | William Rowley |
| Sir John Jennings | Charles Saunders |
| Charles Knowles | Sir George Saunders |
| Hon. Edward Legge | James Steuart |
| James Littleton | Hon. Charles Stewart |
| Thomas Mathews | Thomas Swanton |
| Matthew Michell | Isaac Townsend |
| John Montagu | Thomas Trefusis |
| Hon. William Montagu | Charles Vanbrugh |
| Savage Mostyn | Edward Vernon |
| Sir John Norris | Sir Charles Wager |
| Matthew Norris | Galfridus Walpole |
| Sir Chaloner Ogle | Sir Peter Warren |
| Harry Powlett | Temple West |
LAWYERS
Of the 492 Members who had been admitted to the Inns of Court, 238 had been called to the Bar and 36 were advocates (Scotland), including six who had also been admitted to the Inns of Court. The 209 Members known to have practised as lawyers or held legal office, listed below, consisted of 151 Whigs, 80 of whom, marked with an asterisk, were office holders, including 21 Welsh judges, and 58 Tories, marked (T). The offices include that of a K.C., which was treated as an office under the Crown, involving re-election. As a K.C. not already a bencher was always made one, it has been thought unnecessary to include the office of bencher in the biographies of Members when this was the consequence of becoming a K.C. Nor have the offices of reader and treasurer of one of the Inns of Court been included as these were purely honorary appointments consequent upon becoming a bencher.
| Richard Abell | *John Birch |
| (T) Marmaduke Alington | Denis Bond |
| Charles Allanson | John Bond (d.1744) |
| (T) Francis Annesley | John Bond (d.1784) |
| (T) John Anstis | Robert Booth |
| Henry Archer | *Thomas Bootle |
| (T) William Archer | (T) Samuel Bracebridge |
| *Charles Areskine | (T) Thomas Bramston |
| Edward Bacon | (T) Owen Brigstocke |
| (T) Henry Bankes | Robert Britiffe |
| Robert Barbor | *Lord Brodrick |
| *Hon. Henry Bathurst | (T) John Browne |
| (T) John Belfield | John Buller |
| William Bellamy | (T) Shilston Calmady |
| Arthur Bevan | (T) John Carnegie |
| *Lawrence Carter | Archibald Grant |
| Robert Chaplin | Ludovick Grant |
| *William Chapple | *William Grant |
| *Francis Chute | (T) Charles Gray |
| *Charles Clarke | George Grenville |
| (T) George Clarke | William Guidott |
| Sir Thomas Clarke | *Nathaniel Gundry |
| *Thomas Clarke | Patrick Haldane |
| (T) Richard Clayton | Paggen Hale |
| *Edward Clive | *Nicholas Hardinge |
| *John Comyns | (T) Edward Harley |
| (T) John Conyers | (T) Robert Harley |
| (T) George Cooke | *James Hayes |
| *Spencer Cowper | Thomas Hayward |
| (T) Charles Coxe | Henry Holt Henley |
| (T) John Coxe | *Robert Henley |
| *Anthony Cracherode | *John Hervey |
| *Robert Craigie | *Sir Henry Hoghton |
| (T) Sir Alexander Cumming | *Rogers Holland |
| (T) William Curzon | (T) Hon. Thomas Howard |
| *Hon. Sir David Dalrymple | *Hon. Alexander Hume Campbell |
| *Alexander Denton | (T) John Hungerford |
| John Dickson | (T) Archibald Hutcheson |
| Fleetwood Dormer | (T) Sir Edmund Isham |
| (T) Francis Drewe | (T) Edward Jefferies |
| Sir Thomas Drury | *Sir Joseph Jekyll |
| *Robert Dundas | Philip Jennings |
| (T) Thomas Edwards | *William Jessop |
| Francis Elde | John Jewkes |
| *Sir Gilbert Elliot | *Paul Jodrell |
| Gilbert Elliot | *Thomas Kennedy |
| Charles Erskine | (T) Abel Ketelby |
| (T) Hon. James Erskine | William Kinaston |
| (T) William Ettrick | *William Kirkpatrick |
| John Eyre | *Matthew Lamb |
| Robert Eyre | *Nicholas Lechmere |
| *Francis Fane | *George Lee |
| William Farrer | *William Lee |
| (T) Nicholas Fazackerley | *John Lloyd |
| Robert Fenwick | *Richard Lloyd |
| *Sir James Fergusson | *Walter Lloyd |
| *Hon. John Finch (d.1763) | (T) Charles Longueville |
| (T) Hon. John Finch (d.1740) | James Lowther |
| (T) Paul Foley | (T) Thomas Lutwyche |
| (T) Richard Foley | Samuel Martin |
| *Duncan Forbes | Edward Marton |
| *William Fortescue | *Thomas Martyn |
| *John Fortescue Aland | *John Maule |
| Jeffrey French | Nathaniel Mead |
| (T) Thomas Geers | James Medlycott |
| Thomas Medlycott | *John Strange |
| Sir Roger Meredith | (T) Humphrey Sydenham |
| (T) Sir Peter Mews | *Charles Talbot |
| *Edmund Miller | *Hon. John Talbot |
| (T) Samuel Milles | Charles Taylor |
| Charles Monson | (T) Joseph Taylor |
| George Monson | (T) William Taylor |
| *Thomas Morgan | *William Thompson |
| (T) John Morton | Thomas Tower |
| William Mure | Samuel Travers |
| *Hon. William Murray | *Hon. John Trevor |
| (T) Robert Myddelton | Samuel Tufnell |
| *William Noel | Sir John Turner |
| *Sir Edward Northey | (T) Sir Edward Turnor |
| *Arthur Onslow | *Richard Vaughan |
| *Robert Ord | *Hon. John Verney |
| John Orlebar | Thomas Vernon |
| David Papillon | Harry Waller |
| (T) Thomas Paske | (T) John Ward |
| *Thomas Pengelly | *Sir Clement Wearg |
| Charles Pilsworth | John Weaver |
| William Plumer | James West |
| *John Pollen | *Richard West |
| *Edward Poore | (T) Sir William Whitlock |
| *Richard Potenger | (T) Isaac Whittington |
| *John Pringle | (T) Randle Wilbraham |
| George Proctor | *Edward Willes |
| *Sir Robert Raymond | *John Willes |
| *James Reynolds | John Willes jun. |
| Matthew Ridley | *Sir Nicholas Williams |
| (T) John Robins | (T) Robert Williams |
| Luke Robinson | William Peere Williams |
| *Dudley Ryder | Francis Winnington |
| *Exton Sayer | (T) Charles Worsley |
| (T) Thomas Sclater | John Wright |
| David Scott | Thomas Wyndham |
| *John Scrope | *Hon. Charles Yorke |
| James Sheppard | Hon. John Yorke |
| (T) Matthew Skinner | *Philip Yorke |
| *Sydney Stafford Smythe |
OTHER PROFESSIONAL MEN
Besides its Members from the military, naval, and legal professions, the House during this period included 14 writers (Joseph Addison, John Anstis, Isaac Hawkins Browne, George Duckett, Fulke Greville, James Hammond, Charles Hanbury Williams, Soame Jenyns, Robert Molesworth, Lord Paget, Hon. Francis Robartes, Richard Steele, John Trenchard, Hon. Horatio Walpole), one painter (Sir James Thornhill), five physicians and surgeons (Charles Cotes, John Freind, Robert Gay, Edward Norris, Charles Oliphant), one apothecary (George Bruere), and one quack (Joshua Ward).
MERCHANTS
The following list of 198 merchants includes 12 bankers (Brassey, two Caswalls, two Childs, Colebrooke, Decker, Hoare, three Martins, and Sawbridge), 17 brewers (three Calverts, Cotton, Crosse, Halsey, two Hucks, Inwen, Lade, Meggott, Page, two Parsons, Raymond, Ridge and Thrale), and some of the principal industrialists listed on p. 150, as well as traders with overseas contracts. Those marked with an asterisk held government contracts, ‘the “places” of merchants’ (Namier, Structure, 51). The number and politics of merchants returned at each general election or at subsequent by-elections were:
| Whigs |
Opposition Whigs |
Tories | Totals | |
| 1715 | 60 | — | 13 | 73 |
| 1722 | 49 | — | 9 | 58 |
| 1727 | 51 | — | 8 | 59 |
| 1734 | 39 | 7 | 11 | 57 |
| 1741 | 31 | 11 | 9 | 51 |
| 1747 | 43 | 8 | 3 | 54 |
| William Ashe | John Burridge |
| Solomon Ashley | Felix Calvert |
| *William Baker | John Calvert |
| John Bance | William Calvert |
| John Barnard | Daniel Campbell |
| Sir James Bateman | John Campbell (of Edinburgh) |
| William Beckford | William Carr |
| William Belchier | George Caswall |
| *Thomas Benson | John Caswall |
| Slingsby Bethell | William Cayley |
| William Betts | Francis Chamberlayne |
| John Blackwood | George Champion |
| Jacob des Bouverie | Sir John Chapman |
| Sir Jacob Bouverie | Francis Child |
| Nathaniel Brassey | Samuel Child |
| *John Bristow | Richard Chiswell |
| Robert Bristow | William Churchill |
| Stamp Brooksbank | James Colebrooke |
| Sir Robert Brown | Benjamin Collyer |
| Neil Buchanan | Valens Comyn |
| John Buck | Charles Cooke |
| *Merrick Burrell | James Cooke |
| *Peter Burrell | Sir John Cope |
| Robert Corker | William Heathcote |
| Anthony Cornish | Joseph Herne |
| John Hynde Cotton | Robert Heysham |
| Sir Thomas Crosse | William Heysham |
| John Crowley | Thomas Hill |
| Thomas D’Aeth | Henry Hoare |
| Sir William Daines | Samuel Holden |
| John Deacle | John Hopkins |
| Sir Matthew Decker | Sir Richard Hopkins |
| Josiah Diston | Robert Hucks |
| Paul Docminique | William Hucks |
| George Dodington | *Abraham Hume |
| John Drummond | Alexander Hume |
| Richard Du Cane | Sir William Humfreys |
| Lawrence Dundas | Thomas Inwen |
| Joseph Earle | Richard Jackson |
| Sir Abraham Elton | Robert Jacombe |
| Abraham Elton | Abraham Janssen |
| George England | Stephen Theodore Janssen |
| Charles Ewer | Sir Theodore Janssen |
| John Eyles | Sir Thomas Johnson |
| *Joseph Eyles | Sir William Jolliffe |
| James Fall | Samuel Kent |
| Nicholas Fenwick | James Ker |
| *Thomas Fonnereau | John Lade |
| *Zachary Philip Fonnereau | Daniel Lambert |
| Frederick Meinhardt Frankland | Sir Richard Lane |
| *Henry Furnese | John Laroche |
| Richard Fydell | Daniel Lascelles |
| Thomas Gibson | Henry Lascelles |
| Richard Gildart | Sir William Lewen |
| John Goddard | Patrick Lindsay |
| Peter Godfrey | William Lock |
| Sir Robert Godschall | Richard Lockwood |
| John Goodall | Thomas Lockyer |
| *John Gore | *John London |
| Henry Gough | Henry Maister |
| Sir Henry Gough | William Maister |
| Sir Richard Gough | Henry Marshall |
| John Gould | James Martin |
|
Nathaniel Gould (d.728) |
John Martin |
| Nathaniel Gould (d.1738) | Thomas Martin |
| *Joseph Gulston | George Meggott |
| *John Gumley | Lascelles Metcalfe |
| Edmund Halsey | John Michell |
| *Richard Harnage | *James Milner |
| Thomas Heath | *Thomas Missing |
| George Heathcote | Thomas Missing jun. |
| *Sir Gilbert Heathcote | Arthur Moore |
| John Heathcote | Humphry Morice |
| Albert Nesbitt | William Steele |
| Arnold Nesbitt | Edward Stephenson |
| Nathaniel Newnham | Archibald Stewart |
| Sir Gregory Page | Samuel Swift |
| Philip Papillon | Sir Peter Thompson |
| *Henry Parsons | Richard Thompson |
| Humphry Parsons | Ralph Thrale |
| Sir John Parsons | Richard Tonson |
| Thomas Pearse | Christopher Tower |
| Micajah Perry | *Chauncy Townsend |
| John Phillipson | Horatio Townshend |
| John Raymond | Edward Tucker |
| Sir Isaac Rebow | Thomas Vere |
| *Thomas Revell | Sir Charles Vernon |
| Thomas Ridge | *Thomas Vernon |
| Matthew Ridley | Humphrey Walcot |
| George Robinson | Peter Walter |
| John Rudge | Sir John Ward |
| John Rush | John Ward |
| Samuel Rush | George Warrender |
| John Sambrooke | Thomas Watts |
| John Sargent | Thomas Western |
| Jacob Sawbridge | Sir John Williams |
| Sir Thomas Scawen | Robert Willimot |
| *Sir William Scawen | William Willy |
| Thomas Smith | *Hitch Younge |
PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIALISTS
The 43 Members listed below were of two different types. Over half, shown by asterisks, would have regarded themselves as country gentlemen exploiting the mineral wealth on their estates, mainly in the north-east and South Wales, such as George Bowes, Henry Lambton, the Wortley Montagus, the Hanburys and the Liddells. The remainder were men who owned and developed their businesses or works but were not large landowners. As noted above, the brewers are treated as merchants.
| Solomon Ashley (copper) | Abraham Elton (pottery, copper, brass) |
| *Norborne Berkeley (coal) | Richard Gildart (salt) |
| *Sir William Calverley Blackett (coal, lead) | John Gumley sen. (plate-glass) |
| *Sir William Blackett (coal, lead) | John Gumley jun. (plate-glass) |
| *George Bowes (coal) | *Capel Hanbury (iron) |
| William Bowles (glass) | *John Hanbury (iron) |
| *Sir Roger Bradshaigh (coal) | *John Hedworth (coal) |
| *Thomas Chester (coal) | *Robert Hoblyn (tin, brass) |
| Thomas Coster (copper, tin) | Stephen Theodore Janssen (French enamel) |
| John Crowley (iron) | Sir Henry Johnson (shipbuilding) |
|
Sir Abraham Elton (brass, iron, weaving, glass, pottery) |
Sir Thomas Johnson (salt, building) |
| *Henry Lambton (coal) | |
| Sir Richard Lane (salt) | Sir Gregory Page (shipping) |
| *George Liddell (coal) | *George Pitt (coal) |
| *Sir Henry Liddell (coal) | *Matthew Ridley (coal) |
| *Thomas Liddell (coal) | *Sir John St. Aubyn (tin) |
| *James Lowther (coal) | Chauncy Townsend (coal) |
| *Herbert Mackworth (coal, copper) | *Cholmley Turner (lead) |
| *James Montagu (coal) | John Ward (alum) |
| William Ockenden (copper, brass) | *Edward Wortley Montagu (coal) |
| *John Ord (coal) | *Hon. Sidney Wortley Montagu (coal) |
| *William Ord (coal) | *George Wynne (lead) |
ALDERMEN OF LONDON
All the 31 London aldermen listed below figure in the preceding lists of merchants and principal industrialists, except Edward Gibbon, the historian’s father. Ten of them (Baker, Bateman, Child, John and Joseph Eyles, both Heathcotes, Hopkins, Humfreys, and Scawen) were directors of the three ‘great monied companies’ (see below). Fifteen were government supporters and 16 opposition, including 12 Tories.
| William Baker | Sir Gilbert Heathcote |
| John Barnard | Robert Heysham |
| Sir James Bateman | Sir Richard Hopkins |
| William Beckford | Sir William Humfreys |
| Slingsby Bethell | Stephen Theodore Janssen |
| William Calvert | Daniel Lambert |
| George Champion | Sir William Lewen |
| Francis Child | Henry Marshall |
| Charles Cooke | Humphry Parsons |
| John Crowley | Sir John Parsons |
| Charles Ewer | Micajah Perry |
| John Eyles | Sir Thomas Scawen |
| Joseph Eyles | Sir John Ward |
| Edward Gibbon | Sir John Williams |
| Sir Robert Godschall | Robert Willimot |
| George Heathcote |
DIRECTORS
With few exceptions the 77 directors of one or more of the ‘great monied companies’ listed below were government supporters.
Bank of England (27)
| John Bance | Richard Chiswell |
| Robert Bristow | Sir John Cope |
| Stamp Brooksbank | Josiah Diston |
| Merrick Burrell | Richard Du Cane |
| John Eyles | Sir William Jolliffe |
| Joseph Eyles | Humphry Morice |
| Frederick Meinhardt Frankland | John Rudge |
| Nathaniel Gould | John Sargent |
| Nathaniel Gould | Sir Thomas Scawen |
| Sir Gilbert Heathcote | Sir William Scawen |
| John Heathcote | Christopher Tower |
| Samuel Holden | Hon. Horatio Townshend |
| Sir William Humfreys | Sir John Ward |
| Sir Theodore Janssen |
East India Company (29)
| William Aislabie | Edward Harrison |
| William Baker | Thomas Heath |
| Stephen Bisse | John Heathcote |
| Charles Boone | Joseph Herne |
| Robert Bristow | Alexander Hume |
| Francis Child | Matthew Martin |
| Sir Matthew Decker | Nathaniel Newnham |
| John Drummond | Sir Gregory Page |
| John Eyles | John Page |
| Zachary Philip Fonnereau | Samuel Shepheard |
| Peter Godfrey | William Steele |
| Henry Gough | William Steuart |
| Sir Henry Gough | John Ward (of Hackney) |
| Sir Richard Gough | William Willy |
| John Gould |
South Sea Company (28)
| Sir James Bateman | Sir Richard Hopkins |
| William Bowles | Richard Jackson |
| John Bristow | Sir Theodore Janssen |
| Peter Burrell | John Lade |
| George Caswall | James Lowther |
| Robert Chaplin | John Merrill |
| Sir Thomas Crosse | Thomas Pearse |
| Francis Eyles | John Phillipson |
| John Eyles | George Pitt (d.1735) |
| Francis Gashry | Gabriel Roberts |
| Joseph Gulston | John Rudge |
| Edmund Halsey | Jacob Sawbridge |
| John Hanbury | Fisher Tench |
| George Heathcote | Hon. Horatio Townshend |
EAST INDIANS
East Indian Members can be divided into two groups: (i) 29 directors of the Company (see above), usually big London merchants and bankers, most of whom did not go out to India; and (ii) 12 former members of the Company’s civil or naval service, the later ‘nabobs’, who had returned to England with fortunes made in India. Of these 12 listed below, Aislabie, Boone Gough, Harrison and Martin became directors of the Company after retirement.
| William Aislabie | Matthew Martin |
| Charles Boone | James Peachey |
| Sir Robert Cowan | George Morton Pitt |
| Henry Gough | Thomas Pitt |
| Gabriel Hanger | Gabriel Roberts |
| Edward Harrison | Edward Stephenson |
WEST INDIANS
The following 27 Members owned estates in the West Indies, those who are known to have been born in the islands or to have lived there being indicated by an asterisk. Most of them were absentee landlords for the greater part of their lives. Only Beckford, Bethell, two of the Lascelles, and Thompson were merchants.
| *Charles Barrow | Christopher Jeaffreson |
| *William Beckford | Daniel Lascelles |
| *Slingsby Bethell | Edwin Lascelles |
| Martin Bladen | *Henry Lascelles |
| Henry Bromley | *Charles Long |
| *John Bromley | Samuel Lowe |
| *Sir William Codrington, 1st Bt. | *Martin Madan |
| Sir William Codrington, 2nd Bt. | *Samuel Martin |
| *James Edward Colleton | *John Frederick Pinney |
| *Sir Robert Davers | *Anthony Langley Swymmer |
| *James Dawkins | Theobald Taaffe |
| *Thomas Foster | *Richard Thompson |
| Jeffrey French | *John Walter |
| *Samuel Greathead |
ROGUES
The 12 Members listed below were expelled from the House of Commons for financial frauds. Two others, William Burroughs and Humphry Morice, would have been expelled for the same reason if Burroughs had not already ceased to be a Member and Morice had not committed suicide. Two other notable rogues were Theobald Taaffe, a professional card-sharper, and his associate, the younger Edward Wortley Montagu, a life-long delinquent.
| John Aislabie | Sir Archibald Grant |
| John, Lord Barrington | Sir Theodore Janssen |
| Denis Bond | George Robinson |
| John Birch | Jacob Sawbridge |
| Sir George Caswall | Sir Robert Sutton |
| Sir Robert Chaplin | John Ward (of Hackney) |
RUINED MEN
Apart from building, drink, gambling, speculation, and general extravagance, the chief cause of the ruin of Members was election expenses, which account for that of the 19 marked with an asterisk in the following list of 82 ruined men:
| William Belchier | *Michael Harvey |
| Philip Bennet | *Sir Humphrey Howorth |
| Thomas Benson | John Jeffreys |
| John Boteler | Sir Thomas Johnson |
| John Thurloe Brace | Sir William Keyt |
| William Breton | Edward Lisle |
| Sir Orlando Bridgeman | *Robert Lloyd |
| John Bristow | Charles Long |
| *Henry Bromley, later Lord Montfort | Alexander Luttrell |
| *John Burridge | Sir George Mackenzie |
| Charles Caesar | *Sir Thomas Mackworth |
| John Caswall | Norman Macleod |
| George Chaffin | Charles Mason |
| Francis Chamberlayne | *James Medlycott |
| Walter Chetwynd | *Sir William Middleton |
| William Chetwynd | Edward Minshull |
| *Hon. George Cholmondeley | Arthur Moore |
| John Cockburn | Daniel Moore |
| Robert Colebrooke | William Moore |
| Robert Corker | Humphry Morice |
| John Cotton | Hon. James Murray |
| *George Crowle | Micajah Perry |
| Sir Alexander Cumming | John Pitt |
| Henry Cunningham | *Thomas Pitt (of Boconnoc) |
| Josiah Diston | Richard Powys |
| Hon. John Douglas | John Proby, later Lord Carysfort |
| Lord Drogheda | *Morgan Randyll |
| Edward Dunch | John Robins |
| Richard Eliot | Thomas Robinson |
| George England | Thomas Smith |
| John Essington | William Stephens |
| *Hon. Robert Fairfax | *Sir Edmund Thomas |
| Henry Fleetwood | *Edward Thompson |
| Thomas Forster | *Sir John Trelawny |
| Charles Frederick | Alexander Urquhart |
| Sir Henry Goring | *Lord Verney |
| David Graeme | Nicholas Vincent |
| Henry Grey (formerly Neville) | *John Walcot |
| *Patrick Haldane | William Wallis |
| Richard Hampden | Richard West |
| Lord Harley, later and Earl of Oxford | Andrew Wilkinson |
Other Members who got into financial difficulties without being absolutely ruined were Sir Robert Austen, Sir Roger Bradshaigh, Thomas Chapman, Francis Clerke, Sir Robert Clifton, and Edward Gibbon, the historian’s father.
SUICIDES AND MADMEN
Nine Members returned during this period committed suicide and 13 became permanently or intermittently insane. In the following lists those who committed suicide or became insane while Members of the House of Commons are shown by an asterisk.
Suicides
| Henry Bromley, later Lord Montfort | Sir Danvers Osborn |
| Sir William Keyt | Nicholas Philpott |
| *James Milner | Charles Powlett, later 5th Duke of Bolton |
| *Humphry Morice | *Hans Stanley |
| William Ord |
Madmen
| *Thomas Alston | *Lord Charles Hay |
| Charles Bathurst | *Richard Herbert |
| William Benson | Nicholas Philpott |
| Henry Calthorpe | *Lord John Sackville |
| *Lord Carteret | *John Trevor |
| *Sir Thomas Frankland | *Sir Charles Hanbury Williams |
| *Alexander Grant |
Francis Annesley, against whom a commission of lunacy was taken out, was probably senile.
MAIN CATEGORIES IN EACH PARLIAMENT
| 1715-22 |
1722-7 |
1727-34 |
1734-41 |
1741-7 |
1747-54 | |
| Members | 739 | 673 | 684 | 690 | 685 | 671 |
| New Members | 266 | 250 | 243 | 245 | 255 | 248 |
| Army officers | 58 | 53 | 53 | 55 | 65 | 68 |
| Naval officers | 11 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 21 |
| Practising lawyers | 76 | 73 | 74 | 68 | 70 | 74 |
| Merchants (including bankers and brewers) | 73 | 58 | 59 | 57 | 51 | 54 |