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VERNEY, Ralph, 2nd Earl Verney [I] (1714-91), of Claydon House, Bucks.
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Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
b. 1 Feb. 1714, 2nd but o. surv. s. of Ralph Verney†, 1st Earl Verney [I], of Claydon by Catherine, da. and coh. of Henry Paschall of Baddow Hall, Essex. educ. Brentford; M. Temple 1729; Christ’s, Camb. 1733. m. 11 Sept. 1740, Mary, da. and h. of Henry Herring, merchant and dir. Bank of England, of Egham, Surr., s.p. suc. fa. as 2nd Earl Verney [I] 4 Oct. 1752.
Offices Held
PC 22 Nov. 1765.
Biography
After his defeat at the polls in 1784 Verney, his financial affairs brought to ruin by folly, extravagance and absurd, unrequited generosity, particularly to the Burkes, fled to France to escape arrest for debt. While there was little to show for the subsequent efforts of his friends to salvage something from the wreck, the related campaign of a combined Whig and independent interest to restore him to the Buckinghamshire seat, which was materially aided by his popularity and standing in the county, resulted in his unopposed return in 1790, when he came back to England. The bailiffs were soon put into Claydon, however, and the death of his wife in January 1791, when, so tradition has it, Verney evaded his creditors by hiding in the hearse, crowned the misfortunes of his later years.
He died only four months after the meeting of the new Parliament, 31 Mar. 1791.