KING, Edward Bolton (1801-1878), of Umberslade Hall, Tanworth-in-Arden, Warws.

A country Whig who hailed from a Lancastrian clerical and legal family, Bolton King, as he was generally known, made little impression in his two stints in Parliament, which were separated by a gap of two decades, but was prominent in his adopted county of Warwickshire as a standard-bearer of Whiggery. On his father’s death in December 1824, Bolton King had succeeded to Carr Hill House, Kirkham, Lancashire, but disposed of the property in 1826 before purchasing Umberslade Hall in Warwickshire for £76,000.1‘King, Edward Bolton’, HP Commons, 1820-32, v. 914-15 (at 914).

In partnership with an independent, he ousted the Tory Sir Charles Greville, brother of the earl of Warwick and representative of the ‘Castle interest’ at Warwick, in the 1831 general election and was elected in second place the following year, behind Greville who was later unseated on petition. (A counter petition against Bolton King was dismissed, 15 May 1833.) In Parliament, Bolton King reluctantly went against many of his constituents’ wishes by supporting Irish coercion, believing the measure to be ‘indispensible’ for the preservation of life and property in Ireland, 1 Mar. 1833.2Hansard, 1 Mar. 1833, vol. 16, c. 22. Although his talkativeness in debate had earned him the nickname ‘Bellows’ in the unreformed Parliament, his only other known speech after 1832 was in support of the Warwick borough bill, which sought to amalgamate the constituency with the neighbouring town of Leamington, a measure Bolton King considered ‘necessary, not merely for the purpose of salutary punishment, but as indispensable to the maintenance, in future, of all freedom and purity of election in Warwick’, 26 Feb. 1834.3‘King, Edward Bolton’, HP Commons, 1820-32, v. 914; Hansard, 26 Feb. 1834, vol. 21, c. 845. He silently supported political reforms such as the ballot and shorter parliaments, 25 Apr. 1833, 15 May 1834, and his commitment to the established church as well as his willingness to grant concessions to Dissent was reflected by his vote in favour of Lord Althorp’s plan to replace church rates with a central grant, 21 Apr. 1834. Defending his parliamentary record at the 1835 general election, where he was again returned in second place behind Greville, Bolton King argued that ‘his votes had all been in favour of the people’ and that ‘although he had generally supported the late Ministers, he had frequently opposed them, on such questions as the Civil List, Pensions, Sinecures &c’.4Morn. Chro., 7 Jan. 1835.

He continued to vote with the Whigs in the major divisions of the 1835 session and the following year supported the ministry’s reforms of the established church and municipal corporations in Ireland. He was also one of the leaders of the local Reformers’ unsuccessful challenge at the South Warwickshire by-election, 1 July 1836.5Examiner, 19 June 1836; The Standard, 27 June 1836. Significantly, he divided against a low fixed duty on corn, 16 Mar. 1837, and the general election four months later left him with ‘awkward and incensed feelings’ after he was relegated to third place, behind a Conservative and another Reformer, whom he felt should have stood aside in his favour.6Joseph Parkes to Edward John Stanley, 19 Dec. 1839, MS at Kingsland. However, the Radical election agent Joseph Parkes noted that ‘If King was a more hearty man in manner & canvassing he would have got the seat’.7Parkes to Stanley, 24 Sept. 1837, MS at Kingsland. Over the next decade, Bolton King was frequently rumoured as a candidate for parliamentary elections in the county but he never got as far as a nomination.8He was linked with the vacancy at Birmingham, Dec. 1839, but as a ‘pure Whig’ it was correctly thought that he would have no chance in such a radical constituency. At the 1841 general election his name was mentioned in connection with Warwick and South Warwickshire, but he went no further than issuing an address for the former place, withdrawing after being warned that his candidature would disturb the party compromise and lead to the Conservatives taking both seats: The Standard, 13 Dec. 1839, 14 June 1841; Morn. Chro., 14 Dec. 1839; Morn. Post, 21, 29 June 1841, 6 July 1841; The Times, 21 June 1841. At a local meeting, 24 Jan. 1844, he expressed the view that there was no greater evil than being dependent upon others for food supply and was critical of the ‘nefarious’ Anti-Corn Law League, and on announcing himself as a candidate for the by-election in the southern division, 6 Oct. 1845, he professed his protectionist principles, but was ambiguous about whether he would support Peel’s government or not.9The Standard, 25 Jan. 1844; Morn. Chro., 6 Oct. 1845. It was a moot point, however, as Bolton King characteristically withdrew shortly after.10Morn. Post, 7 Oct. 1845.

In the subsequent decade Bolton King settled at his estate at Chadshunt, which he had acquired through his first marriage, and sold off Umberslade to the family of George Frederick Muntz, MP for Birmingham 1840-57, its tenant since 1850.11HP Commons, 1820-32, v. 915. He made a surprise return to the Commons after being returned unopposed with a Conservative for South Warwickshire at the 1857 general election, and gave silent support to Palmerston’s leadership. He now opposed further measures of reform such as the ballot, the equalisation of the borough and county franchises and shorter parliaments. He retired at the 1859 general election.

On his death twenty years later, Bolton King’s eldest son from his first marriage, Edward Raleigh King (1833-1900), succeeded to Chadshunt.12HP Commons, 1820-32, v. 915. Bolton King (1860-1937), the only son of his second marriage, an educational reformer, unsuccessfully attempted to follow his father into Parliament.13HP Commons, 1820-32, v. 915. He was the defeated Liberal candidate in the ‘Khaki’ by-election for Stratford-upon-Avon (or South West Warwickshire) in 1901: McCalmont’s parliamentary poll-book, ed. J. Vincent and M. Stenton (8th edn., 1972), pt. II, 246; J. Browne, ‘Stratford by-election of 1901’, Warwickshire History, 5 (1981-4), 15-29, 157-63.