AGLIONBY, Francis Yates (1777-1840), of Nunnery, Ainstable, Cumberland

Aglionby’s maternal ancestors had first settled in Cumberland at the time of the conquest, where they had a grant of lands in Warwick parish, which they subsequently named Aglionby.1R.S. Ferguson, Cumberland and Westmoreland MPs from the Restoration to the Reform Bill of 1867 (1871), 331-2. In 1789 his father, John Orfeur Yates, had inherited the ancestral home of Drawdykes Castle, Cumberland, following the death without issue of Christopher Aglionby, his brother-in-law. In 1822 Francis assumed the name of Aglionby in compliance with the will of his maternal aunt, Elizabeth, and succeeded to the Aglionby estates.2W.W. Bean, The parliamentary representation of the six northern counties of England (1890), 15. He resided at Nunnery, ten miles north of Penrith, which was ‘well known to the public for the superlative beauty of its pleasure-grounds’.3J. Allison, Allison’s picturesque pocket companion: comprising a sketch of Penrith and its neighbourhood (1836), 90-1. Originally intended for the bar, he accepted a commission in the Cumberland militia following the outbreak of war with France in 1803, and was soon raised to the rank of major.4S. Jefferson, The history and antiquities of Cumberland: with biographical notices and memoirs (1840), i. 246. In 1818 he became chairman of the quarter sessions for Cumberland, where he ‘administered justice with that even handedness, which was the admiration of all who heard him’.5Northern Liberator and Champion, 4 July 1840.

Following two unsuccessful attempts to be returned for Cumberland West at the 1833 by-election and the 1835 general election, Aglionby offered as a Liberal for Cumberland East in 1837. The contest, in which the ‘Netherby turncoat’ Sir James Graham sought re-election in the Conservative interest, was a dramatic affair which captured national attention.6J.T. Ward, Sir James Graham (1967), 145. Aglionby, who stood in coalition with the radical William James, presented himself as a disinterested candidate, claiming that ‘living in retirement in the bosom of his family and entirely happy with agricultural pursuits, he was happy in his station, secluded from politics’. Nevertheless, he stated that he ‘agreed with the principles of the present Melbourne administration’, but insisted that he ‘would never become a partisan, and if the government continued to resist vote by ballot, and the repeal of the septennial act ... he would oppose them’.7Morning Chronicle, 5 Aug. 1837. Following a bitter contest, he was returned at the top of the poll.

A frequent attender who is not known to have spoken in the Commons, Aglionby supported Melbourne’s ministry on most major issues. His votes for the ballot, 15 Feb. 1838, equalisation of the borough and county franchises, 4 June 1839, and the abolition of capital punishment, 5 Mar. 1840, reflected his radical instincts, though he voted against motions to reconsider the corn laws, 15 Mar. 1838, 18 Mar. 1839. In February 1838 he was appointed to the Sligo election committee.8T. Falconer and E.H. Fitzherbert, Cases of controverted elections determined in committees of the House of Commons (1839), 564. The extent of Aglionby’s select committee service is unknown as the reports of select committees in the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers do not distinguish between him and his cousin, Henry Aglionby Aglionby, MP for Cockermouth, 1832-1854.

In July 1840, when crossing the lobby of the Carlisle court house to attend the midsummer sessions, Aglionby stumbled at the foot of the stairs and died almost immediately from a fit of apoplexy. The inquest recorded a verdict of ‘natural death’.9The Times, 7 July 1840. He was remembered as ‘an ardent and sincere advocate of reform’, who was ‘universally respected for his kind and benevolent disposition and urbanity of manners’.10Gent. Mag. (1840), ii. 325; Northern Liberator and Champion, 4 July 1840. His only son having died in 1834, his estates, which were reported to be worth only £350 a year, passed to his cousin, Henry Aglionby, MP for Cockermouth 1832-1852.11Standard, 6 July 1840. He was memorialised by a statue, sculpted by Musgrave Watson, which stands outside the Carlisle court of justice. His papers and letters are held at Cumbria Record Office and his correspondence with Sir James Graham is at the British Library, London.12Cumb. RO, D AY 6/30; BL Add Mss 79715, f. 50; 79720, f. 202; 79721, f. 3; 79724, f. 64.