Arthur Bevan (c. 1687 – 6 March 1742), of

Laugharne Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival i ...

, Carmarthenshire, was a Welsh lawyer 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. ...

from 1727 to 1741. Bevan was the eldest surviving son of Zachary Bevan and his wife Sarah Bayly of Laugharne. He matriculated at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

on 28 February 1705, aged 17. Also in 1705, he was admitted at

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 ...

and was called to the bar in 1712. He married Bridget Vaughan, daughter of John Vaughan of Derllys, Carmarthen. from a junior branch of the Vaughans of Golden Grove who led the Whig interest in Carmarthen in the seventeenth century. On 22 July 1722, Bevan was appointed Recorder of Carmarthen, where he played a leading role in the Whig interest. He was elected in a contest at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

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

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

. He voted against the

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Customs officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

in 1733, but all his other recorded votes were for the Government. He was returned unopposed at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

and was chairman of the committee set up to consider the continuance of expired or expiring laws for each session in 1734, 1737 and 1739. He lost his seat 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 also lost his recordership on 7 August 1741 as a result of Sir John Philipps' development of the Tory interest in the borough. Bevan died on 6 March 1742.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Arthur 1680s births 1742 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 People from Laugharne