LASCELLES, Edward (1740-1820), of Stapleton, nr. Pontefract, Yorks.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1761 - 1774
1790 - 1796

Family and Education

b. 7 Jan. 1740 in Barbados, 1st surv. s. of Edward Lascelles, collector of customs there, by Frances, da. of Guy Ball, member of council, Barbados. m. 12 May 1761, Anne, da. of William Chaloner of Guisborough, Yorks., 2s. 2da. suc. fa. 1747; cos. Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood 1795; cr. Baron Harewood 18 June 1796; Earl of Harewood 7 Sept. 1812.

Offices Held

Cornet R. Horse Gds. 1756; capt. 18 Drag. 1759; ret. 1761; col. 3 W. Yorks. militia 1797, brevet col. during service 1798.

Biography

Lascelles re-entered Parliament for the family seat when his cousin Edwin became a peer. In 1791 he was listed as an opponent of the repeal of the Test Act in Scotland. On 4 Aug. 1794 he requested Pitt’s support for his claims to the Harewood title:

Being of a very ancient family in this country, always zealously attach’d to the constitution, an old Member of Parliament, and heir in entail to Lord Harewood’s landed estate, which is one of the largest in England, as likewise heir presumptive to almost the largest monied property—and what I am as anxious to be noticed by as any thing—a sincere admirer of your character, abilities and conduct, a steady supporter of your administration and very desirous of the honour of being rank’d among the foremost of your friends.

In the following year he succeeded to Harewood’s estates (according to Farington valued at over £50,000 a year) but not to the peerage. Now an important West India proprietor, he voted against the abolition of the slave trade, 15 Mar. 1796.

Lascelles did not seek re-election in 1796, when he was assured of the barony of Harewood: but for this, he might have looked to a county seat. Both his sons then entered Parliament, one for the family borough and the other for the county. His ambition was an earldom. On 22 May 1798 he reminded Pitt of his pretensions to one and added, ‘But I must confess it would be a very sensible mortification to me to find that my steady and invariable attachment to you should not meet with this return’. A further solicitation on 12 June brought him an immediate but negative reply. On Pitt’s return to power in 1804, the application was renewed. It was at length granted by Lord Liverpool in 1812. Harewood died 3 Apr. 1820.

PRO 30/8/142, ff. 137, 139, 141, 143, 145; 195, f. 191; Farington, i. 101.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: Winifred Stokes

Notes