SHAFTO, Robert (?1690-1729), of Whitworth, nr. Durham.

Family and Education

b. ?1690, 1st s. of Mark Shafto of Whitworth and bro. of John Shafto. educ. Lincoln, Oxf. 17 June 1708, aged 17. m. 1723, Dorothy, da. of Henry Dawnay, 2nd Visct. Downe [I], and sis. of John Dawnay, s.p. suc. fa. 1723.

Address

Main residence: Whitworth, nr. Durham.

biography text

Robert Shafto was great-grandson of Mark Shafto, a younger son of the Northumberland family of Benwell, who bought Whitworth about 1650. Returned as a Tory at a by-election for Durham in 1712, soon after he came of age and while his father was sheriff, he did not stand again till 1727, when he was unopposed. He died in December 1729.

Author

R.S.L.

Volume

Commons 1715-1754