BRASSEY, Nathaniel (c.1697-1765), of Roxford, Hertingfordbury, Herts. and Lombard St., London.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1734 - 1761

Family and Education

b. c.1697, 1st s. of John Brassey, banker, of Lombard St. by his w. Mary Lane. m. (1) Mary, 2s. d.v.p. 1da.; (2) 17 Oct. 1751, Martha Phillips, 1s.1 suc. fa. 1737.

Offices Held

Biography

Brassey’s father, a Quaker, who purchased Roxford in 1700, was an assistant in the Sword Blade Company and a prominent London banker, trading in partnership with his son-in-law, Sir George Caswall, under the style of Brassey and Caswall. By 1716 Nathaniel Brassey was his father’s partner in the firm, which became known after 1730 as Nathaniel Brassey and Lee.2

After contesting St. Albans unsuccessfully in 1730, Brassey was returned unopposed for Hertford in 1734. In 1739 he was one of the Members chosen to prepare a bill to prevent fraud and abuses in gold and silver wares, receiving the thanks of the Goldsmiths’ Company for his ‘indefatigable pains’.3 The same year, in common with other Hertfordshire Members, he supported a motion for the repeal of the Test Act,4 otherwise voting regularly with the Government.

He died 29 Sept. 1765, aged 68.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. Misc. Gen. et Her. n.s. ii. 577; John Cameron, Non Juror, 182.
  • 2. Hilton, Price, Handbook of London Bankers.
  • 3. Prideaux, Memorials of Goldsmiths' Co. ii. 231.
  • 4. HMC Egmont Diary, iii. 47.