Colonel George Liddell (1678–1740), of

Eslington Park Eslington Park is a privately owned 18th-century mansion house west of Whittingham, Northumberland, near the River Aln. It is the family seat of Lord Ravensworth. It is a Grade II* listed building. Eslington, first mentioned in the reign of Edw ...

, Northumberland, was a British coal owner 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 1727 to 1740. He was one of the dominant figures in the coal-business in the North East, and was a colonel in the militia who was active against the Jacobite threat.

Early life

Liddell was baptized on 1 August1678, the fourth son of

Sir Henry Liddell, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

, MP of Ravensworth, and his wife Catherine Bright, daughter of

Sir John Bright, 1st Baronet Sir John Bright, 1st Baronet (14 October 1619 – 13 October 1688) was an English parliamentarian, of Carbrook and Badsworth, Yorkshire. Birth and family John Bright was born in 1619, the third, but only surviving, son of Stephen Bright and Joan ...

, of Badsworth, Yorkshire. Liddell's family had inherited lands containing coal, and he became a leading protagonist among the coal-owners.

Militia and coal owner

Liddell became a Colonel in the militia and was involved in taking military precautions at the time of the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts The House of Stuart, ori ...

. He remained anti-Jacobite and was on the alert for further threats of action. After 1716 Liddell purchased Eslington Park which was forfeited to the Crown by George Collingwood for his treasonable part in the Jacobite rebellion. He built a new two-storey nine-bay mansion house on the site in about 1720. He was a very capable businessman and became one of the leading players in the coal business, dealing with disputes with the Newcastle

keelmen The Keelmen of Tyne and Wear were a group of men who worked on the keels, large boats that carried the coal from the banks of both rivers to the waiting collier ships. Because of the shallowness of both rivers, it was difficult for ships of any sig ...

, who transported the coal by sea, and negotiating with other coal owners. In 1727, he was one of the founders of a cartel known as the Grand Allies which dominated the coal trade in the North for the rest of the centuryCharles E Lee ‘Early North-East Coast Railways — II’ Colliery Engineering July 1939
/ref> and in 1728 he became Governor of the Society of Hoastmen who had rights in the loading of coal.

Political career

Liddell was on good terms with Walpole, and at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, he 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 of ...

for

Berwick-Upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

with the support of the government interest there. Walpole referred to him as ‘the wise man of the north’. Liddell voted with the Government in all recorded divisions. He was returned again at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. He became involved in the matter of the forfeited Derwentwater estates of which the proceeds were to be used for the benefit of Greenwich Hospital. The undeveloped parts of the estate which included mines and woods were to be sold off. In 1739 Liddell appeared in the record as director for Greenwich Hospital of Lord Derwentwater's estates.

Death and legacy

Liddell died unmarried on 9 October 1740. He left his estate to his nephew

Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth (1708 – 30 January 1784) succeeded to the Baronetcy of Ravensworth Castle, and to the family estates and mining interests, at the age of fifteen, on the death of his grandfather in 1723. He was created 1s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liddell, George 1678 births 1740 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British businesspeople in the coal industry