Andrew Wilkinson (1697–1784), of Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, was a British estate manager and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for 35 years between 1735 and 1772. Wilkinson was the son of Charles Wilkinson of Boroughbridge and his wife Deborah Cholmley, daughter of Richard Cholmley of Bramham, Yorkshire. He was admitted at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

on 2 July 1715 and at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

on 8 July 1719. He married Barbara Jessop, daughter of

William Jessop William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Jessop was born in Devonport, Devon, the ...

Broom Hall Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498, and was built by th ...

near Sheffield on 2 September 1723. Wilkinson's father was the Yorkshire estate agent of successive Dukes of Newcastle, and from 1718 was the receiver-general of the land tax for Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham until he resigned in 1727. Wilkinson then became receiver of the land tax for West Rising. Shortly afterwards it was discovered that Wilkinson's father was in debt to the Government for over £30,000 and consequently spent the rest of his life as a crown debtor in

Newgate prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

. Wilkinson's own position as receiver was in jeopardy until his father-in-law Jessop offered to stand surety for him. Wilkinson was invited to stand for parliament at

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the mai ...

at the 1734 British general election, but the Duke of Newcastle advised him to wait until Aldborough became available. When his father-in-law William Jessop died in 1735, Wilkinson gave up his post as receiver and was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Aldborough at a by-election on 19 February 1735. He was returned unopposed as MP for Aldborough at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

and was awarded the post of Clerk of Deliveries in the Ordnance in May 1741. In 1746 he was promoted to

Storekeeper of the Ordnance The Principal Storekeeper of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the English (and later British) Board of Ordnance from its constitution in 1597. He was responsible for the care and maintenance of ...

and was re-elected to parliament on the consequential parliament on 23 April 1746. He was returned unopposed again at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

. Wilkinson continued to act as Newcastle's estate agent and electoral manager for Yorkshire and was returned unopposed again for Aldborough in 1754 and 1761. However, he voted against the Government on the peace preliminaries in December 1762 and as a result was dismissed from his post at the Ordnance. He was restored to the post in September 1765, but had to give up his parliamentary seat and was unable to recontest it because it was required for Viscount Villiers. Wilkinson applied to the Duke of Newcastle to be returned to Parliament again and was returned for Aldborough at the

1768 British general election The 1768 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election took plac ...

. He was absent for many votes and resigned his seat in May 1772 by applying for the post of Steward of the Manor of East Hendred. Wilkinson died on 29 March 1784, leaving seven sons. Broom Hall was left to his eldest son, Rev. James Wilkinson. His third son, also named Andrew, became a captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Andrew 1697 births 1784 deaths People from Boroughbridge Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774