MUNDY, Edward Miller (1801-1849), of Shipley Hall , near Ilkeston, Derbyshire

Lords of the manors of Shipley and Mapperley, the Miller Mundys were descended from a junior branch of the Mundys of Markeaton, founded when Mundy’s great-grandfather, Edward (1714-67), married Hester, daughter and heiress of Robert Miller of Shipley.1Burke’s landed gentry (1847), ii. 899; S. Glover, The directory of the county of Derby (1829), 84, 97; G. Turbutt, A history of Derbyshire (1999), iv. 1603. His grandfather, Edward Miller Mundy I (1750-1822), had been a rather inactive member for Derbyshire from 1784 until his death.2HP Commons, 1754-1790, iii. 179-80; ibid., 1790-1820, iv. 642-43; ibid., 1820-32, vi. 453. The Shipley estate included coal deposits of ‘very good’ quality and by 1842 Mundy had six mineshafts, employing 60 children under 13 years old, and 120 aged between 13 and 18, and a new colliery was opened in the following year.3S. Bagshaw, History, gazetteer and directory of Derbyshire (1846), 182; PP 1842 [382], xvii. 251; Turbutt, iv. 1437-38, 1603; Derby Mercury, 25 Jan. 1843. A staunch Conservative, he was described as ‘a manly, honourable, and consistent politician’, who ‘enjoyed the full confidence of the large constituency which he represented, and whose interests he uninterruptedly and unflinchingly maintained’.4Derby Mercury, 7 Mar. 1849.

As chairman of the South Derbyshire Independent and Conservative Association, 1835-41, Mundy oversaw the party’s growing ascendancy in the constituency.5Derby Mercury, 9 Mar. 1836, 6 Jan. 1841. At the 1835 election, he proposed Sir Roger Gresley, and he seconded Sir George Crewe two years later.6Derby Mercury, 21 Jan. 1835, 26 July 1837. When the two Conservative incumbents, Crewe and Francis Hurt, indicated that they intended to step down, the party machine ensured a smooth transition and it was announced, 24 Apr. 1840, that Mundy and Charles Robert Colvile would be the candidates at the next election.7Derby Mercury, 29 Apr. 1840. His prediction, Jan. 1841, that both Conservatives would be elected with majorities of over a thousand if the Liberals were foolish enough to oppose them came close to being realised at the election six months later, when he topped the poll and Colvile was also returned easily.8Derby Mercury, 6 Jan. 1841. At a celebratory dinner, he acknowledged the ‘immense influence’ of women, and noted that, during the canvass, persuading the wives and daughters of absent electors often resulted in securing the vote of the men.9Derby Mercury, 4 Aug. 1841. After his return, Mundy kept up his regular attendance at local Conservative dinners and meetings, as well as those of allied bodies such as the Protestant, operative and protection societies.10Derby Mercury, 20 Oct. 1841, 23 Nov. 1842, 11 Oct. 1843.

A silent but regular attendee, Mundy gave general support to the Conservative ministry in the lobbies on most issues, especially those concerned with the established Church and the constitution, but he was not afraid to vote against the party leadership when he felt their policies were not consistent with their professed political principles. As a staunch Protestant, he repeatedly voted against the Maynooth grant and opposed the own government’s Maynooth College bill at every stage in 1845.11House of Commons Divisions Lists, 1842 session, 20 July 1842; ibid., 1843 session, 8 Apr. 1843; ibid., 1845 session, 3, 18 Apr. 1845, 21 May 1845. Although he supported Peel’s revised tariff of 1842, he resisted any further diminution of agricultural protection, including the repeal of the corn laws in 1846.12House of Commons Divisions Lists, 1842 session, 16, 24 Feb. 1842, 9 Mar. 1842; ibid., 1843 session, 12, 15 May 1843; ibid., 1844 session, 1 Feb. 1844, 26 June 1844; ibid., 1845 session, 10 June 1845; ibid., 1846 session, 15 May 1846. Unlike his predecessor Crewe and his colleague Colvile, he offered general support for the new poor law, but sought to mitigate its harsher features and retain Gilbert’s Unions, and had to explain himself to local critics who demanded a more antagonistic stance.13Derby Mercury, 4 Oct. 1842, (see also 6 July 1842); House of Commons Divisions Lists, 1842 session, 17 Mar. 1842, 17, 27 June 1842; ibid., 1843 session, 23 Feb. 1843; ibid., 1844 session, 18 July 1844. Generally suspicious of legislative interference in industry, he was hostile to additional regulation in mines and collieries, and was one of the few protectionist MPs to vote alongside former Peelite colleagues against the 1846 factories bill, although he reversed his position the following session.14House of Commons Divisions Lists, 1843 session, 16 May 1843; ibid., 1844 session, 22 Mar. 1844, 3 May 1844; ibid., 1846 session, 20, 22 May 1846; ibid., 1847 session, 21 Apr. 1847, 3 May 1847.

He faced no contest at the 1847 election, telling electors during his canvass that he would give free trade a ‘full and fair trial’.15Derby Mercury, 11 Aug. 1847. There was, however, no change in Mundy’s religious principles, and he resisted Roman Catholic relief and the abolition of Jewish disabilities during his remaining time in Parliament.16House of Commons Divisions Lists, 1847-8 session, 8, 17 Dec. 1847, 11 Feb. 1848.

Recuperating from illness, he died in Barbados, 29 Jan. 1849, and was succeeded by his brother, Alfred Miller Mundy (1809-77), who had been colonial secretary of South Australia since 1844.17London Gazette, 12 Apr. 1844. His distant cousin William Mundy of Markeaton (1801-77) succeeded him as MP for South Derbyshire (1849-57, 1859-65).18Derby Mercury, 7 Feb. 1849, 7 Mar. 1849. The Miller Mundys were forced to sell the Shipley estate in 1923 and the Hall was demolished in 1948.19Burke’s landed gentry (1937), 1646; Turbutt, iv. 1661-62.