John Bagshaw (1784 – 20 December 1861) was a British Whig property developer and politician.

Life

He was the son of John Bagshaw of Rugby, Warwickshire. He moved to

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

in Essex and acquired land at nearby

Dovercourt Dovercourt is a small seaside town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Harwich, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in th ...

, where he developed plans with the help of W.H. Lindsey, a London architect, to build a new resort overlooking the sea. He started the project in 1845 by building a mansion, Cliff House, for himself and his family and actively promoted a railway link to Harwich. When a chalybeate spring was discovered in the grounds of Cliff House, Bagshaw extended the property to incorporate a spa, library, pump room, and conservatory. He next developed Orwell Terrace where his son

Robert John Bagshaw Robert John Bagshaw (1803 – 11 August 1873) was a British Whig politician. He was born the only son of John Bagshaw, MP for Harwich, who had developed the resort of Dovercourt, near Harwich. Robert continued the development of the town after ...

, also an MP for Harwich, moved into Banksea House in 1857. However the developments, which included Marine Parade and the Cliff Estate, caused him financial difficulties and he was declared bankrupt in 1859.

Parliamentary career

He was elected at the 1835 general election 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 ...

(MP) for

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, having unsuccessfully contested the seat at a by-election in July 1834. At the 1837 general election, he did not stand again in Sudbury, but contested

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

unsuccessfully.Craig, op. cit., page 165 At the 1841 general election he stood instead in

, but was not elected.Craig, op. cit., pages 144–145 He won the seat in

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...

, but was defeated in

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come tog ...

. However, the election of his

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

successor was voided on petition, and Bagshaw won the resulting by-election on 21 June 1853. After being re-elected in

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Janua ...

, he resigned his seat 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. ...

on 9 March 1859, through appointment as

Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds Appointment to the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds is a procedural device to allow Members of Parliament to resignation from the British House of Commons, resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. S ...

Private life

He died in Norwood in 1861 after the contents of his house and spa had been sold and his estate broken up. Cliff House was demolished in 1909 and the Spa in 1920. He had married twice and had a son and 3 daughters. His son John Robert continued the development of Dovercourt and also became MP for Harwich.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagshaw, John 1784 births 1861 deaths Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859