FULLER, John (1706-55), of Brightling, Suss.

At the general election of 1754 Fuller had meant to stand for Sussex, and was said to have the support of Lord Middlesex.1Halifax to Newcastle, 12 Mar. 1754, Add. 32734, f. 227. But on 14 Mar., ‘with the greatest regard to the peace and quiet of the county’, he acquainted the Duke of Newcastle that he would not stand.2Newcastle to Ld. Northampton, 15 Mar., ibid. f. 255. And this is how Fuller described the sequel in a letter to a friend:3Fuller to H. Dodson, 19 Mar. 1754, ibid. f. 289. The Duke called in Lord Ashburnham, and said: ‘My Lord, one civility deserves another, I will never be outdone’; and made Ashburnham witness to his voluntary offer that Fuller ‘shall be in the next Parliament chosen by me without expense, and without any constraint upon his actions. He shall come into the House as free and independent as any Member there.’ On a vacancy occurring in Newcastle’s pocket borough of Boroughbridge, Fuller was returned, 20 Dec. 1754, in absentia, his ‘infirm state of health’ not permitting attendance.4Newcastle to the burgesses of Boroughbridge, 6 Dec. 1754, Sir T. Lawson-Tancred, Recs. of a Yorkshire Manor, 293-4. He died 1 Feb. 1755.