Edmund Lechmere (8 September 1747 – 31 October 1798) was a British politician, MP for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

1790–1796. Lechmere was born at

Hanley Castle Hanley Castle is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, between the towns of Malvern and Upton upon Severn and a short distance from the River Severn. It lies in the administrative area of Malvern Hills District, and is part of ...

on 8 September 1747, the son of Edmund Lechmere (1710–1805), and his first wife Elizabeth Charlton.

Nicholas Lechmere Charlton Nicholas Lechmere Charlton (18 December 1733 – 20 March 1807), known as Nicholas Lechmere until 1784, was a British politician, MP for Worcester in 1774. Lechmere was the son of Edmund Lechmere (1710–1805), and his first wife Elizabeth, daug ...

(1733–1807) was Lechmere's older brother; Sir Anthony Lechmere, 1st Bt. (1766–1849) was his younger half-brother. He matriculated at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

in 1764 aged 16, and graduated

B.A. 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 ...

1768,

M.A. 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 ...

1770. He entered 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 ...

in 1771, 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 1774. Lechmere was elected MP for Worcester in

1790 Events January–March * January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City. * January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took p ...

as a supporter of the government of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

, and initially supported the government. By 1795 he had turned against the government, voting against the King's Speech (29 October 1795), against the

Seditious Meetings Act 1795 The Seditious Meetings Act 1795 (36 Geo.3 c.8) was approved by the British Parliament in December 1795; it had as its purpose was to restrict the size of public meetings to fifty persons. It was the second of the well known "Two Acts" (also known ...

(10 November 1795), for peace negotiation (15 February 1796), against the loans (26 February 1796), for inquiry into the national finances (10 March 1796), and against the conduct of the war (10 May 1796). He spoke frequently on the plight of the poor, opposing grain exports at a time of national shortage. He did not stand for re-election in

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

. Avoiding his creditors, he moved to

Holyrood, Edinburgh Holyrood (; sco, Halyruid, gd, Taigh an Ròid) is an area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, lying east of the city centre, at the foot of the Royal Mile. The area originally took its name from Holyrood Abbey, which was the Church of ...

. He was arrested in sanctuary in June 1797 for debt, but his immunity was upheld. He died on 31 October 1798.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lechmere, Edmund 1747 births 1798 deaths Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple British MPs 1790–1796