PETTY, Henry, 1st Baron Shelburne [I] (1675-1751), of Wycombe, Bucks.

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

Constituency

Dates

1715 - 1722
1722 - 1727

Family and Education

b. 22 Oct. 1675, yst. s. of Sir William Petty, acting surveyor gen. [I], by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Hardress Waller of Castletown, co. Limerick, wid. of Sir Maurice Fenton, 1st Bt., M.P., who was cr. Baroness Shelburne for life 31 Dec. 1688. m. 1699, Arabella, da. of Charles Boyle, M.P., Visct. Dungannon [I], sis. of Charles Boyle, M.P., 3rd Earl of Cork [I], 3s. 1da. d.v.p. suc. bro. to family estates Apr. 1696; cr. Baron Shelburne [I] 16 June 1699; Earl of Shelburne 29 Apr. 1719.

Offices Held

Jt. prothonotary of common pleas [I] 1692-1700; jt. ranger of Phoenix park 1698-d.

Biography

Soon after succeeding to the family estates, Shelburne bought the manors of Temple Wycombe, Loakes and Windsor, near Wycombe, which he contested unsuccessfully in 1702. Returned as a Whig for Great Marlow in 1715, he was absent from the division on the septennial bill, voted for the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts, but did not vote on the peerage bill. In 1722 he was returned for Wycombe but did not stand again. He died 17 Apr. 1751, leaving estates in England and Ireland said to be worth £16,000 a year, besides £250,000 in the funds.1 The bulk of his fortune devolved on his nephew, John Fitzmaurice, created Earl of Shelburne [I] 1753, the father of the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

  • 1. Gent. Mag. 1751, p. 187.