POWLETT, Charles Armand (c.1694-1751), of Leadwell, Oxon.

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

Constituency

Dates

25 Apr. 1729 - 1734
3 Apr. 1740 - 14 Nov. 1751

Family and Education

b. c.1694, 2nd s. of Lord William Powlett by his 1st w. and bro. of William Powlett. m. 12 June 1738, Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Lewis of Stamford, Notts., wid. of Richard Dashwood of Leadwell, Oxon. K.B. 26 June 1749.

Offices Held

Ensign 1 Ft. 1710; capt. 27 Ft. 1715; maj. 29 Ft. 1717; a.-d.-c. to Charles, 2nd Duke of Bolton, when ld. lt. [I] 1717-18; lt.-col. 10 Drags. 1720; lt.-col. 1 tp. Horse Gren. Gds. 1733; dep. gov. I.o.W. 1733-d.; col. 9 Marines 1740-7; brig.-gen. 1745; maj.-gen. 1747; col. 13 Drags. 1751.

Mayor, Lymington 1731.

Biography

Defeated at Newtown in 1727, but returned for it on petition in 1729, Powlett consistently voted with the Government. He did not follow his cousin, Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton, into opposition in 1733, which accounts for his defeat at St. Ives in 1734. Returned for Christchurch at a by-election in 1740, he again voted with the Administration in all recorded divisions. On 18 Nov. 1748 he applied to Newcastle for the Bath as one who had ‘ever stood steady to H.M., your family, and the present Administration; if the head of my family has took a different turn, that can never be laid to me’. A month later, 10 Dec., he wrote to Newcastle expressing the hope that

the very great expense I have been at in the elections and my steady attachment to the present Administration will plead in my behalf and I dare say Mr. Pelham, for whom I have a sincere regard and esteem, will do me the justice to acknowledge, that I never voted against anything he espoused, though often strongly solicited to act a different part, which I ever scorned ... It is the first favour I have begged of your Grace.1

After receiving the red ribbon in June 1749, he begged Newcastle to

mention me to his Majesty, as being now not only without any regiment, but without half pay, having a small thing of £330 a year as deputy governor of the Isle of Wight. I have paid above four thousand pounds for my late commission besides great sums in elections, which has hurt my fortune ... My attendance in Parliament and the zeal our family have ever showed, I hope will plead some merit. My late regiment was broke when I was abroad, where I spent £1,000 more than the allowance.2

In 1750 the 2nd Lord Egmont described him as ‘a very zealous contributor of noise and disturbance when any of our friends speak’.

He died 14 Nov. 1751.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

  • 1. Add. 32717, f. 323, 405.
  • 2. 24 July 1749, Add. 32718, f. 343.