John Bird (c. 1694 – 11 January 1771), of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, was a British 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 ...

from 1734 to 1737. Bird's family had introduced ribbon-weaving to the Coventry area and were prominent silk manufacturers. William Bird was mayor of the town in 1705. John Bird was born about 1694, a son of William Bird. He married, in 1718, Rebecca Martyn (c. 1696 – 7 June 1762), daughter of Francis and Elizabeth (Doughty) Martyn of London and of

Blockley Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire. The civil and ecclesiastical paris ...

. Bird was given the post of receiver of the land tax for Warwickshire by Walpole in 1723. He held it until 1733, when he decided to stand for Parliament at

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

on an anti-excise platform. He was elected

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 Coventry in a contest 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 ...

but his defeated opponent John Neale continued to pursue a petition against him on the grounds of his property qualifications. In 1737 Bird was offered the post of commissioner of the stamp duties, and resigned his seat to take it up ‘for the peace and quiet of the city of Coventry’. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, he lost his position as commissioner of the stamp duties.Eveline Cruickshanks, "BIRD, John, of Kenilworth, Warws.", ''The History of Parliament''.
/ref> Bird died in 1771 at

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

. His son John was the father of William Wilberforce Bird who was also a Member of Parliament for Coventry.Edward J. Davies, "Some Connections of the Birds of Warwickshire", ''The Genealogist'', 26(2012):58-76.

Family

Abbreviations: bp. = year baptised; bur. = year buried; m = year married

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, John 1690s births 1771 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1734–1741 Year of birth uncertain Members of Parliament for Coventry