Edward Bacon (c. 1712–1786) was a British lawyer 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 1748 and 1784. Bacon was the son of

Waller Bacon Waller Bacon (c. 1669 – 1734), of Earlham Hall, near Norwich, was a British lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for 24 years between 1705 and 1734. He was active in drafting bills in Parliament, possibly on the strength o ...

of Earlham, Norfolk. He entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1731. His father died in 1734 and he inherited

Earlham Hall Earlham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It is located just to the west of the city of Norwich, on Earlham Road, on the outskirts of the village of Earlham. For generations it was the home of the Gurney family. The Gurneys were known ...

. In 1738 he 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 ...

. He married Elizabeth Knight of Southampton on 4 September 1742 Bacon's father had represented

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

from 1705 to 1734 and in 1739 Bacon was invited to stand with Tory support against the sitting Whig Members for the town. He waited until he had consulted

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

, the senior sitting Member, who arranged for him to be brought in 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

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

in 1742, sitting until the 1747 general election. He was then returned as MP for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

in a by-election on 21 April 1748 on the Walpole interest. He became Steward of Norwich in 1750 and recorder in 1752, holding the post until 1783. In 1754 Bacon was again invited to stand for Norwich, but declined in order to oblige Pelham, who provided him with another seat at Newport in the 1754 general election. He became

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of his Inn in 1755. When Walpole was raised to the peerage, Bacon was finally elected MP for

in a by-election on 25 June 1756. He was chairman of committee of privileges and elections from 1758 to 1770. He became Lord of Trade in December 1759 and zealously applied himself to its work, remaining in office until 1765 with an attendance at Board meetings during that time of nearly 80 per cent. At the

1761 general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Sco ...

Bacon and Harbord were opposed by two Norwich aldermen whom they easily defeated. Bacon never held any public office after 1765. He was returned for Norwich again in a contest in

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

and returned uncontested in 1774. The 1780 election was however closely contested, and Bacon kept his seat only by a narrow margin. The English Chronicle acknowledged in a note on him in 1781: "Edward Bacon ... is an intelligent sensible man, perfectly conversant in the intricacies of committee business, and skilled in all the branches of commercial information. He is vulgarly denominated a stickler, but as this appellation appears in him to be only an ill-natured mode of conveying an idea of indefatigable attention to every subject that comes within his cognizance, it will rather operate as a compliment than otherwise. He is firmly attached to Lord North, and is of course his friend in Parliament". After 1780 no vote by him is recorded as he was too ill to attend. It was said of him in December 1783: "Mr. Bacon is so ill he can’t attend and can’t live long; perhaps may not wish to come in again". He did not stand in 1784. Bacon was highly respectable, independent and diligent but apparently very dull. During his 41 years in Parliament he represented local interests indefatigably and his activities in Parliament centred on committee work. He is not known to have spoken in any major debate, and intervened very rarely. Bacon died on 12 March 1786 and was buried at Earlham Church. He and his wife had no children.

References

Sources

Print of Edward Bacon, MP (d.1786)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Edward 1710s births 1786 deaths People from Norwich (district) Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784