Family and Education

b. c.1676, 2nd s. of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Bt., and bro. of John* and William Curzon†.  educ. Trinity, Oxf. matric. 2 July 1692, aged 16; I. Temple 1694, called 1700.  m. 19 Feb. 1717, Mary (d. 1776), da. and coh. of Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Bt.*, 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 2da.  suc. bro. as 4th Bt. 7 Aug. 1727.1

Offices Held

Biography

As the second son of a prominent landowning family, Curzon followed a legal career, probably spending most of his time in London. One contemporary observed that he already had ‘a very great estate’ when he succeeded his brother, which suggests that he had found his chosen profession financially rewarding. Certainly, he was still giving legal opinions to clients shortly before his entry into the Commons at a by-election and he continued to practise at the bar during the early part of his parliamentary career. A report of the by-election suggests that his family’s loyalty to the ministry was severely tested by the terms of the peace laid before Parliament in 1713. Lady Anne Pye thought ‘it was not over handsome for the Curzons to exclaim, as some of the brothers did in the spring when he was chose on the vacancy, and call the peace dishonourable at a public table, when all the gentlemen of the country [were] by’. Curzon voted for the French commerce bill on 18 June 1713, but, significantly, his brother was absent.2

Despite rumours of opposition from Lord James Cavendish* and James Stanhope*, and some electioneering by Richard Pye II*, Curzon was returned with his partner Edward Mundy in 1713. His parliamentary activity in this period is impossible to distinguish from that of his elder brother. He was listed as a Tory on the Worsley list and continued to sit as such after his return to the Commons in 1722. In 1731 he was described as a Hanoverian Tory. Despite rumours of his ennoblement (as Lord Charlton), and claims he made to the barony of Powis, he never obtained a title. He gave up his county seat in favour of his son Nathaniel† in 1754 and died on 18 Nov. 1758. His son and heir was raised to the peerage in 1761 as Lord Scarsdale.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Stuart Handley

Notes

• 1. Collins, Peerage, vii. 299.
• 2. The Gen. n.s. vii. 110; Add. 6686, f. 150; HMC Portland, v. 328.
• 3. Centre Kentish Stud. Stanhope mss U1590/C28, Thomas Gisborne to [James Stanhope], 11 Apr. 1713; U1590/C9/14, Thomas Stanhope* to same, 2 May 1713; RA, Stuart mss 145/175, Andrew Ramsey to [–], 2 June 1731; HMC 9th Rep. II, 401–2; Derby Mercury, 18–25 Nov. 1758.