TREVELYAN, Sir John, 4th Bt. (1735-1828), of Nettlecombe, Som. and Wallington, Northumb.

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

Constituency

Dates

27 Feb. 1777 - 1780
1780 - 1796

Family and Education

b. 6 Feb. 1735, o.s. of Sir George Trevelyan, 3rd Bt., by Julia, da. of Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Bt., of Calverley, Yorks., sis. and h. of Sir Walter Calverley Blackett, 2nd Bt. educ. New Coll. Oxf. 1753. m. 20 Apr. 1757, Louisa Marianne, da. and coh. of Peter Simond, Huguenot merchant, of London, 6s. 2da. suc. fa. as 4th Bt. 11 Sept. 1768; mat. uncle to Northumbrian estates 1777.

Offices Held

Sheriff, Som. 1777-8.

Biography

Trevelyan’s health was indifferent by 1790 and he made little mark in his last Parliament. As before, he supported Pitt, expecting professional advancement for members of his family in return. He was listed among opponents of repeal of the Test Act in Scotland in 1791. On 6 June 1793 he opposed Grey’s motion to adjourn the trial of Warren Hastings until the next session: just as he had opposed the impeachment itself, without ever having spoken to Hastings in his life. There was a sequel to this when on 4 May 1795 he and Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell* asked Pitt to present a petition to the King from Hastings seeking compensation: Pitt could not bring himself to do so (12 May).1 On 1 June Trevelyan joined the minority for Sumner’s amendment on the Prince of Wales’s debts. On 24 Nov. 1795 he was a defaulter.

Trevelyan’s retirement in 1796 averted the threat of a contest for Somerset. His three elections for the county were said to have cost only 84 guineas, and when his son John was tipped as a likely ministerial candidate for Northumberland in 1809 it was predicted that neither father nor son would foot the bill. Trevelyan survived until 18 Apr. 1828, ‘a gentleman beloved and revered in every domestic and social relation’.2

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: R. G. Thorne

Notes

  • 1. PRO 30/8/104, ff. 246-8; 184, ff. 117-122; 195, f. 124.
  • 2. Grey mss, Monck to Grey, 15 Nov. 1809; Morning Chron. 19 Feb. 1820; Gent. Mag. (1828), i. 469.