WELBY, Glynne Earle (1806-1875), of 73 Portland Place, London and Denton Hall, nr. Grantham, Lincolnshire

Part of an ancient Lincolnshire family which could trace its ancestry back to the Conquest, Welby sat as Conservative MP for Grantham for over a quarter of a century. His father, William, had represented the borough, 1807-20, as had his grandfather, also William, 1802-6, who had been created a baronet in 1801.1HP Commons, 1790-1820, v. 502-3. Like his ancestors, Welby is not known to have spoken in Parliament, and his career, though lengthy, was utterly unremarkable. Elected for Grantham in 1830, he had opposed the Grey ministry’s reform bill, believing that it ‘would endanger our best and dearest institutions, which it had taken centuries to perfect’.2Boston Gazette, 3 May. 1831; HP Commons, 1820-1832

At the 1832 general election Welby explained that his opposition to Reform had been ‘dictated by my conscience’ and that ‘I should hang my head with shame were I ever to further any measure that was opposed to the honest conviction of my mind’. He called for the civil list to be curtailed and argued that slavery should not be abolished until ‘full compensation’ had been given to the planters. He was ambiguous on the subject of church reform, stating he was not ‘determinedly against’ it, while insisting that he would never support any measure which would ‘destroy the sacred institution of an established church’. Following a keenly contested campaign, he was returned in second place, defeating his Whig brother-in-law, Sir Montague Cholmeley, 2^nd bt.3Morning Post, 12 Dec. 1832.

A lax attender, like his father and grandfather, Welby paired off in favour of currency reform, 24 Apr. 1833, and voted for repeal of the malt tax, 27 Feb. 1834.4Welby is also not known to have sat on any select committees. He opposed the ballot, 25 Apr. 1833. Comfortably re-elected in second place at the 1835 general election, when his ‘reception was highly flattering’, he voted with Peel on the speakership, 19 Feb. 1835, the address, 26 Feb. 1835, and Irish church appropriation, 2 Apr. 1835, and thereafter remained implacably opposed to the Melbourne ministry’s Irish policy, dividing against Irish municipal reform, 28 Mar. 1836, and the Irish tithes and church bill, 3 June 1836.5Morning Post, 8 Jan. 1835; Parliamentary test book (1835), 168. He topped the poll at the 1837 general election, and continued to vote steadily with the Conservative opposition, backing the motion blaming the government for the Canadian rebellion, 7 Mar. 1838, and supporting Peel’s motion of no confidence in the Whig ministry, 4 June 1841.

Re-elected unopposed in 1841, Welby loyally supported Peel’s ministry on most major issues, and opposed Lord John Russell’s motions to not re-introduce income tax, 13 Apr. 1842, to redress Irish grievances, 12 July 1843, and to consider the state of Ireland, 23 Feb. 1844. He was against the Maynooth grant, 18 Apr. 1845. He voted against Villiers’ amendment to end all duties on corn, 24 Feb. 1842, and backed Peel’s sliding scale on corn duties, 9 Mar. 1842. Thereafter he opposed repeal of the corn laws, 26 June 1844, 10 June 1845, but was absent from the second and third readings of the corn importation bill, 27 Mar., 15 May 1846.

At the 1847 general election Welby stated that he looked ‘with anxiety upon’ the repeal of the corn laws. His speeches focused mainly, though, on his defence of the established church and the danger posed by ‘concessions’ to Rome. He declared that:

there might be those who would call him a bigot and think him behind the times, but he could not change his principles. He would sooner find himself in a minority than do what he conscientiously believed would place in peril the established church of this county.6Lincolnshire Chronicle, 6 Aug. 1847.

Re-elected unopposed, his early votes underlined these concerns. He opposed the Roman Catholic relief bill, 8 Dec. 1847, and the Jewish disabilities bill, 4 May 1848. Reflecting his protectionist sympathies, he was against repeal of the navigation laws, 23 Apr. 1849, and backed a motion to reconsider the corn laws, 14 May 1850. He continued to be a poor attender.7In the 1849 session he was present for only 8 out of 219 divisions: Hampshire Telegraph, 20 Oct. 1849. He voted for Disraeli’s motion to relieve the distress of land owners, 13 Feb. 1851, and, marking a shift in his position, he opposed the repeal of the malt tax, 8 May 1851.

At the 1852 general election Welby reiterated his defence of the established church, explaining that he was opposed to the Maynooth grant because he ‘could not conscientiously vote the grant of any money for the education of Romish priests. ... A good education made men more capable of persuading or misleading others’. Rather defensively, he insisted that ‘Conservatism did not mean hostility to civil and religious liberty’, and following a bitter campaign he was re-elected in first place.8Lincolnshire Chronicle, 9 July 1852.

An even more infrequent attender in his final Parliament, Welby, who succeeded his father as third baronet in November 1852, was in the minority for Disraeli’s budget, 16 Dec. 1852, and opposed Gladstone’s economic proposals, 2 May 1853.9In the 1853 session he was present for 20 out of 257 divisions and in 1856 he was present for 20 out of 198: Daily News, 21 Sept. 1853; J.P. Gassiot, Third letter to J.A. Roebuck: with a full analysis of the divisions of the House of Commons during the last session of Parliament (1857), 11. He voted against church rate abolition, 21 June 1854. On matters of foreign policy, he voted for Roebuck’s motion for an inquiry into the condition of the army, 29 Jan. 1855, Disraeli’s motion criticising the Crimean war, 25 May 1855, Roebuck’s censure of the cabinet, 18 July 1855, and Cobden’s motion of censure on Canton, 3 Mar. 1857. Following the dissolution, he retired from Parliament, making way for his eldest son, William, who succeeded him as Conservative member for Grantham.10Stamford Mercury, 13 Mar. 1857.

In 1861 Welby, in compliance with the will of his close friend and distant relative Gregory Gregory of Harlaxton, near Grantham, added the name of Gregory to his own.11Welby acquired Gregory’s estates at Rempstone, Nottinghamshire, and Denton, Lincolnshire, and the major portion of the contents of Harlaxton Manor: G. Rowlands, ‘History of Harlaxton Manor: its construction, interiors and inhabitants’, in Harlaxton Manor Guide Book (1984). He died at Denton Hall, Lincolnshire, in August 1875, leaving effects valued at under £140,000.12The Times, 26 Aug. 1875; Lincolnshire Chronicle, 27 Aug. 1875; England and Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of wills and administration, 1861-1941, 5 Oct. 1875. He was succeeded by William, Conservative MP for Grantham 1857-68, and Lincolnshire South, 1868-84.