Penkridge Parliamentary History, 1701 to 1812

Home | Littletons 2 | The Littletons of Teddesley Hall | Always on my Mind | Almshouses | Tanyard Wedding | Jubilee, 1935 | Snow | CONTENTS | Reading Room | Penkridge Church Clock | 1901 | Books | Pub Landlords | Sydney Barnes | Four Crosses | Acton | Levedale | Wyre Cottage | Fox Holes | Ivy House | Yacht | Lord Byron | Christ's Church | Bedlam | Dialect | Wolverhampton | Sandon Hall | Beer-ometer | Bednall | Walk | Hope | Lady Lichfield | Vicars | Buckingham Palace | Directories | Staffordshire Squires | Streets | Estate Workers | US Army | MPs | Stafford By-election | Mystery

1701

Henry Paget

Edward Bagot

returned unopposed 28th Jan, 1701

Tory majority, Tory government formed.

 

1701 – 02

Henry Paget

Edward Bagot

returned unopposed 27th November, 1701

 

1702 – 05

Reign of Queen Anne

Henry Paget

Edward Bagot

returned unopposed 6th August, 1702

 

1705 – 08

From 1707, the first Parliament of Great Britain

Henry Paget

Edward Bagot

returned unopposed 10th May, 1705


 

1708 – 10

Henry Paget  T

John Wrottesley  T

returned unopposed 6th May, 1708

 

1710- 13

Henry Paget  T

William Ward  T

returned unopposed 19th Oct 1710

Paget resigned in 1711 on taking office as Captain Yeoman of the Guard causing....

by election, 13th December 1711

Henry Paget returned unopposed

Paget sent to House of Lords, 1712 causing .....

by election 7th Feb 1712

Charles Bagot  T

returned unopposed

 

 

1713 – 15

This Parliament was dissolved 6 months after the death of Queen Anne and the Hanoverian Succession.

Ralph Sneyd  T

Henry Vernon  T

returned unopposed 17th September, 1713

 

1715 – 22

Parliament called by George I

Thomas, Lord Paget  T

William Ward  T

returned unopposed 3rd Feb, 1715

 

1722 – 27

Thomas Catesby, Lord Paget  T

William Leveson Gower  T

returned unopposed 22nd March, 1722

 

1727 -34

Parliament called by George II

William Leveson Gower  T

Sir Walter Bagot  T

returned unopposed 13th August, 1727

 


 

1734 – 41

William Leveson Gower  T

Sir Walter Bagot  T

returned unopposed 2nd May 1734

 

1741 – 47

William Leveson Gower

Sir Walter Bagot

returned unopposed 21st May, 1741

 

1747 – 54

The 1747 General Election was only the second to be contested for the County of Staffordshire and the first for a hundred years. The rise of the Leveson Gower family, their change from Tory to Whig and joining the government caused the Tory gentlemen of Staffordshire to regard them as traitors. Two candidates were put up to oust Gower. Earl Gower put up his son-in-law, Wrottesley, as a counter-blast. Result:

Sir Walter Bagot  (T)                                    2654

William Leveson Gower  (Bedford Whig)  2602

John Crewe  (Ind. Whig)                                2433

Sir Richard Wrottesley (Bedford Whig)        2421

This “tie” set the rule for the next 70 years in Staffordshire: one seat for the Tories and one for the House of Trentham.

 

1754 – 61

William Leveson Gower  (BW)

William Bagot  (T)

returned unopposed 18th April, 1754

Gower died causing a by election....

Henry Frederick Thynne  (BW)

returned unopposed 4th Jan 1757

 

1761 – 68

George Harry, Lord Grey  (W)

William Bagot  (T)

returned unopposed 9th April, 1761

 

1768 – 74

George Harry (W)

William Bagot  (T)

returned unopposed 31st March, 1768

George Harry created Earl of Stamford in 1768 causing a by election...

Captain John Wrottesley  (BW)

returned unopposed 5th July, 1768

 

1774 – 80

Sir William Bagot  (T)

Sir John Wrottesley  (Gower Whig)

returned unopposed 21st Oct 1774

 

1780

 

In the 1780 general election, fought amidst the disasters of the American War of Independence Staffordshire returned,

 

George Legge, Viscount Lewisham, later Earl of Dartmouth (Tory)

Sir John Wrottesley (Gower Whig)

elected 28th September 1780, defeating Sir William Wolseley (Ind. Whig) who did not call for a poll.

 

1784

A general election held in 1784  resulted in a great victory for the new Prime Minister, William Pitt (the Younger). The Gower Whigs supported Pitt for the next 20 years. The Staffordshire County MPs were:

Sir Edward Littleton (Tory)

Sir John Wrottesley (Gower Whig)

who were elected unopposed and supported Pitt.

Sir Edward Littleton, squire of Penkridge and builder of Teddesley Hall and the Littleton Arms was MP for Staffordshire from 1784 to 1812, when he died in his 84th year. He took little active part in politics and appears never to have spoken in the chamber of  the House of Commons, though he promoted the interests of the county and canals in committee and through influence.

 

1787

In 1787 Sir John Wrottesley died and was replaced by George Granville Leveson-Gower.

George Granville Leveson-Gower, born 1758, was son and heir of the 1st Marquess of Stafford, who died in 1803. He was described as “a leviathon of wealth” having married the Duchess of Sutherland in 1785, inherited the vast estates of the Duke of Bridgewater in 1803 as well as his father’s land.

Sir Edward and George Granville Leveson-Gower were returned at the general elections of 1790 and 1796.

1799

In 1799 George Granville Leveson-Gower was replaced by his brother, Granville Leveson-Gower, who remained MP for Staffordshire until 1815.

Granville Leveson-Gower, born 1773, was the 3rd son of the Marquess of Stafford. He was a lord of the Treasury 1800-04, Ambassador to Russia 1804-5 and France 1824-41. He was a great gambler and accounted the best whist player of his time. He was a supporter of Pitt and then George Canning. He finally became a Whig, returning from Paris to vote for the Great Reform Bill in 1832.

He was created Viscount Granville in 1815 and Earl Granville in 1833. He died in 1846 and is buried at Stone.