FLOWER, Sir James, 2nd bt. (1794-1850), of Eccles Hall, Norfolk; Mill Hill, Hendon, London; Lobb Farm, Oxfordshire and Woodford, Essex

Flower, who was known for his ‘urbane and hospitable disposition’, had a perfunctory parliamentary career as Conservative member for Thetford.1Norfolk Chronicle, 12 June 1841. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Charles Flower, a charismatic, self-made food merchant with virtually no education, who had built his fortune by securing government contracts to supply the navy with beef and pork during the Napoleonic wars.2Gent. Mag. (1835), i. 206-7. An alderman of the City of London who served as lord mayor in 1808, Flower’s father was created a baronet in 1809.3Ibid. He was also a noted expert in gastronomy, and was described as ‘one of the most resolute turtle-eaters the City has seen for many years’.4Observer, reprinted in Sydney Herald, 12 Feb. 1835. On his father’s death in 1834, Flower, who was resident at Eccles Hall, Norfolk, succeeded to the baronetcy and the family estates, and inherited £400,000.5Gent. Mag. (1835), i. 207. Thereafter he cemented his position among the Norfolk squirearchy. He established the Flower Harriers, which became known as one of the county’s best packs of hunting hounds, and played a leading role in the important Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society.6Norfolk Chronicle, 11 Apr. 1835, 18 Mar. 1837. In 1838 he was appointed high sheriff of the county.7Norfolk Chronicle, 25 May 1850.

At the 1841 general election Flower accepted a requisition from local electors to stand for Thetford, a small borough about twelve miles west of Eccles Hall, whose electorate numbered just under 200.8Ibid., 12 June 1841. His rather prosaic address merely expressed his commitment to church and state and his dislike of ‘rash innovation’.9Ibid., 19 June 1841. Following a short campaign in which he was tacitly backed by his Conservative colleague William Bingham Baring, whose family possessed considerable influence in the borough, he tied for second place with the Liberal candidate, the earl of Euston. The mayor declared a double return and all three candidates were gazetted as MPs.10Bury and Norwich Post, 30 June 1841; Norfolk Chronicle, 3 July 1841; London Gazette, 23 July 1841. Flower petitioned against the result, 26 Aug. 1841, and after the election committee struck off a bad vote for Euston, he was declared duly elected, 4 May 1842.11The Times, 27 Aug. 1841; PP 1842 (548), v. 25.

A steady attender, Flower gave steadfast but silent support to the Conservative ministry on all major issues. He was especially loyal to Peel, for whom he hosted a Conservative dinner party at his London residence in August 1843.12Norfolk Chronicle, 26 Aug. 1843. He voted against opposition motions to consider the state of Ireland, 12 July 1843, 23 Feb. 1844, followed Peel into the division lobby on the major clauses of the factory bill, and opposed the equalisation of the sugar duties, 17 June 1844, 26 Feb. 1845. He supported the Maynooth grant, 3 Apr. 1845. He backed Peel’s repeal of the corn laws, 27 Mar. 1846, having hitherto voted against the measure, and voted for Peel’s Irish coercion bill, 25 June 1846, the defeat of which finally brought the beleaguered Conservative ministry down. He is not known to have sat on any select committees.

With Thetford’s two dominant political families, the Barings and Fitzroys, keen to restore shared representation, Flower declined to stand for re-election at the 1847 dissolution.13Daily News, 29 July 1847. He died, without issue, at his London residence at Mill Hill, Hendon, in May 1850, whereupon the baronetcy became extinct.14The Times, 18 May 1850; Norfolk Chronicle, 25 May 1850. He was survived by his wife. His brief correspondence with Peel, concerning his friend’s application to reside at the Charter House almshouse, is held by the British Library, London.15BL Add 40574, ff. 286-90.