Charles Stanhope (16731760) was an English barrister 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 1717 to 1741. Deeply implicated in transactions related to the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

, possibly concerned with political corruption, he was strongly defended by those in government, and was acquitted of all charges brought against him.

Early life

Stanhope was the second son of John Stanhope of

Elvaston, Derbyshire Elvaston is a small village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The parish also includes two hamlets, Ambaston and Thulston, and a modern housing estate, Boulton Moor. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 1,801. ...

, and his wife Dorothy Agard, daughter of Charles Agard of Foston, Derbyshire. He was admitted at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and was

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 ...

in 1703. He succeeded his elder brother

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

to the family estates in 1730.

Career

Stanhope was the cousin of

James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (c. 16735 February 1721) was a British soldier, diplomat and statesman who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of Lor ...

who made him his under-secretary in 1714. He stood for Parliament at in a by-election on 10 June 1717, and though initially defeated, he was seated on petition 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 ...

on 6 July 1717. He served as

Secretary to the Treasury In the United Kingdom, there are several Secretaries to the Treasury, who are Treasury ministers nominally acting as secretaries to HM Treasury. The origins of the office are unclear, although it probably originated during Lord Burghley's tenure ...

from 1717 to 1721. James Stanhope and

Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, KG, PC (23 April 167519 April 1722), known as Lord Spencer from 1688 to 1702, was an English statesman and nobleman from the Spencer family. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1714–1717), Lord ...

were investigated over dealings in

stock after the Bubble, and Charles Stanhope also; but he avoided the ruin of political career that came upon Sunderland. At the 1722 general election Stanhope was given the safe seat of by the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

, being returned unopposed then and at the 1727 general election. Stanhope was seeking procurement, but the new King George II discovered among his father's papers a note written by Stanhope with proposals for drastic action against him during a family quarrel. The King blocked any favours towards Stanhope, but Stanhope attributed his failure to secure office to Walpole and became his bitter enemy. While he owed his seat to Newcastle, he supported the government in all divisions except on the civil list arrears in 1729. At the 1734 general election he was elected in a contest as MP for on his own interest, and went over to the Opposition. He did not stand in

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

. Stanhope became a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1726.

Death and legacy

Stanhope died unmarried in 1760. His younger brother was

William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, PC (c. 16838 December 1756) was a British statesman and diplomat. Life William Stanhope was born in 1683 at the family home in Elvaston, Derbyshire, third surviving son of John Stanhope and Doro ...

, the father of

William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington General William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington (18 December 1719 – 1 April 1779) was a British politician and soldier. The son of William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, he took up a military career and joined the Foot Guards in 1741, and ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanhope, Charles 1673 births 1760 deaths English barristers Tory members of the Parliament of Great Britain British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 Fellows of the Royal Society Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

People from Derbyshire (before 1895)