Charles Egerton (12 March 1654 – 11 December 1717), of

Marchington Marchington is a small village in East Staffordshire, England. It lies between the towns of Burton upon Trent and Uttoxeter. Marchington has a small community-run shop, a first school, two churches and two pubs. The population of the village wa ...

, Staffordshire, was an English aristocrat and Whig politician who sat in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and British Houses of Commons between 1695 and 1711. The fourth son of

John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgwater John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater PC (30 May 1623 – 26 October 1686) was an English nobleman from the Egerton family. Life He was a son of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and his wife Lady Frances Stanley. His maternal grandpar ...

and his wife Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, daughter of

William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, KG, KB, PC (25 December 1676) was an English courtier and supporter of the arts. He was a renowned horse breeder, as well as being patron of the playwright Ben Jonson, and the intellectual gr ...

, he was admitted 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 ...

in 1673 and at Lincoln's Inn in 1678. Egerton married Elizabeth Murray, the daughter and heiress of Henry Murray, Groom of the Bedchamber to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, and widow of Randolph Egerton, of Betley, Staffordshire on 30 April 1691. His brother, Sir William Egerton, was also a lawyer. Egerton 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 o ...

for Brackley, Northamptonshire, on the family interest at the

1695 English general election The 1695 English general election was the first to be held under the terms of the Triennial Act of 1694, which required parliament to be dissolved and fresh elections called at least every three years. This measure helped to fuel partisan rivalry ...

. He voted for fixing the price of guineas at 22 shillings in March 1695, and voted for the

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

of Sir John Fenwick on 25 November 1696. At the 1698 English general election, he was returned toParliament again unopposed and was a Court supporter. He was returned unopposed at the first 1701 and after a contest at the second 1701 election, and again at the 1702 English general election. At the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of "Church in Danger" occurring in several boroughs. During the pre ...

he was returned in a contest. He voted for the Court candidate as Speaker on 25 October 1705 and supported the Court in the proceedings on the ‘place clause’ of the Regency Bill on 18 February 1706. In 1708 he was returned unopposed as a Whig MP for Brackley. He supported the naturalization of the Palatines. At the 1710 British general election he was returned in a contest, but was unseated on petition in favour of John Burgh on 27 January 1711. From 1697 to 1709 Egerton was involved in backing a scheme to pardon the pirates of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and have them return to England with their considerable plundered wealth. Propagated by former pirate

John Breholt John Breholt (fl. 1697–1711) was a pirate and salvager active in the Caribbean, the Carolinas, and the Azores. He is best known for organizing several attempts to get the pirates of Madagascar to accept a pardon and bring their wealth home to E ...

, the scheme lost traction after Breholt's piratical past came to light. Egerton inherited a share of the estates of

Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford Aubrey is traditionally a male English given name. The name is from the French derivation Aubry of the Germanic given name Alberic / Old High German given name Alberich, which consists of the elements ALF "elf" and RIK "king", from Proto-German ...

, who died in March 1703, but later ran into financial difficulties. In 1712 he obtained a private Act of Parliament to sell his manor of Marchington in Staffordshire, to pay his debts. He did not stand for Parliament again and died on 11 December 1717, aged 63. He and his wife had one son.

References

1654 births 1717 deaths People from Brackley English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 Younger sons of earls {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub