Alexander Popham (18 July 1729 – 13 October 1810) was a British penal reformer and 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. ...

between 1768 and 1796.

Life

Born to Alexander Popham, a rector, and his wife Mary, Popham

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

on 11 November 1746, transferring to

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, where he was awarded his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1751 and his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in 1755. While at All Souls, Popham studied under and became friends with

Sir William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the '' Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

; his notes are the only surviving records of Blackstone's first set of law lectures. After being

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by 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 ...

in 1755, Popham worked as a barrister before his election 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

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

in 1768. As a chairman of

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

, Popham saw the disturbing conditions in which prisoners were held, and on 17 February 1774 introduced a bill to provide proper ventilation, bathing, the immediate treatment of the ill and a qualified surgeon or apothecary at each gaol.Record for ''Alexander Popham (1729-1810)'' on ''historyofparliamentonline.org''
/ref> Losing his seat in the 1774 election, he was returned to Parliament again in March 1775, only to again lose his seat in 1780. Returning in 1784, Popham held the seat until 1796, supporting the Pitt Administration, and in 1791 introduced a poor law amendment bill that was significantly watered down due to its radical nature. Popham died on 13 October 1810, and was buried in

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popham, Alexander 1729 births 1810 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of All Souls College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple British barristers British reformers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796