Sir George Caswall (died 1742) of Muddiford Court, Fenchurch Street, London was a British banker 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. T ...

between 1717 and 1741. Caswell was the eldest son of James Caswall of Leominster,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

. He married Mary Brassey, daughter of John Brassey, a banker of Lombard Street, London. He became a partner in the firm Turner, Sawbridge and Caswall, bankers, operating as the Sword Blade Company of which he was a Director in 1701. The Sword Blade Company were bankers 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 ...

of which he became a Director in 1711. Caswall was elected as Whig

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

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

, at a by-election on 19 March 1717. The election was declared void on 30 May on account of Caswall's bribery, but Caswall was returned again at the rerun on 17 June 1717. He was knighted on 10 February 1718. He lost his Directorship of the South Sea Company in 1718, but was

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

from 1720 to 1721. The South Sea Company collapsed in 1720 and Caswall as a representative of the bank, was deemed to have played a significant part in running the scheme which led to collapse. A Parliamentary committee was set up in 1721 to investigate, and his specific offence was the acquisition – free of charge – of £50,000 of stock in the company while its formation was before parliament. Caswall was one of seven members expelled from the

and in addition a bill was introduced requiring Turner, Caswall & Co to make a restitution of £250,000. This bill, which would have broken Caswall, passed initial parliamentary stages but lapsed after parliament was prorogued. In the aftermath of the scandal, Caswall was involved in protracted legal proceedings against

Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland (17 March 1682 – 4 July 1726), of Titchfield, Hampshire, styled Viscount Woodstock from 1689 until 1709, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 until 17 ...

.Sir George Caswall vs. the Duke of Portland: Financial Contracts and Litigation in the wake of the South Sea Bubble
/ref> Despite being expelled, Caswall was elected again for the seat of Leominster at the 1722 general election. He was re-elected in

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

and

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America. * February 16 – ...

. He stood down at the

1741 general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

in favour of his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

. He was a director of the Royal African Company in 1742. Caswall's wife died on 8 August 1721, and he married secondly, before 1731, Mary Brassey, widow of Thomas Brassey. He left two sons by his first wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caswall, George Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies 17th-century births 1742 deaths Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown People from Leominster British MPs 1715–1722 Expelled members of the Parliament of Great Britain