SHUTTLEWORTH, Richard (1683-1749), of Gawthorpe Hall, Lancs. and Forcett, Yorks.

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

Constituency

Dates

1705 - 22 Dec. 1749

Family and Education

bap. 3 Sept. 1683, 1st s. of Sir Richard Shuttleworth, M.P., of Gawthorpe Hall and Forcett by Katherine, da. and h. of Henry Clerke, pres. of Magdalen, Oxf.; father-in-law of John Crewe, jun.. educ. Grand Tour 1702. m. 20 Apr. 1703, Emma, da. and h. of William Cole of Laughton, Leics., 5s. 3da. suc. fa. 1687.

Offices Held

‘Father’ of House of Commons 1748-9.

Biography

Shuttleworth’s family, who had been seated at Gawthorpe since the fifteenth century, had represented Preston and Clitheroe in the seventeenth century. Returned for Lancashire as a Tory against the Derby interest in 1705,1 he continued to represent the county for the rest of his life. A member of the October Club and of the Jacobite Club at Preston, with two relations in the 1715 rebellion,2 he consistently voted against every Administration after the accession of George I. He is only once recorded as speaking, on the gin bill in 1736.3 Shortly before his death, 22 Dec. 1749, the second Lord Egmont wrote of him in his electoral survey:

Is reputed one of the strongest Jacobites in England—but has talked surprisingly in favour of a reconciling scheme to destroy all Jacobites, of late, and will certainly be with us for a time.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. HMC Portland, iv. 183.
  • 2. K. Whittle, Account of Preston, 50; C. Hardwick, Hist. Preston, 252.
  • 3. HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 257.