John Bristow (25 April 1701 – 14 November 1768), of Mark Lane, London, and Quidenham, Norfolk, was an English merchant, financier 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. ...

from 1734 to 1768.

Early life

Bristow was the third surviving son of Robert Bristow (1662–1706), MP of

Micheldever Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint. Parts of th ...

, Hampshire, and his wife Katherine Woolley, daughter of Robert Woolley, vintner, of London. He became a leading merchant in trade with Portugal, and a prominent figure in 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 was a director from 1730 and then deputy governor from 1733. In 1733, he married Anne Judith Foisin, the daughter of Paul Foisin, an East India merchant in Paris.

Career

Bristow was returned by his brother-in-law,

John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire, (11 October 169322 September 1756) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1728, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Hobart. Early life Hobart was the son of Si ...

, 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

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. History and geography With a population of about 2,000, the village lies in the Bere peninsula, between the rivers ...

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 voted consistently with the Government. In 1739, on the outbreak of war with Spain, he and his partner Peter Burrell, were granted contracts for remitting money for the forces in Gibraltar, Minorca and Jamaica. The Jamaica contract was on very favourable terms and allegations arose that Walpole had made a bad bargain for the public. At the

1741 British 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 ...

he was returned as MP for St Ives. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, a secret committee was set up by the Commons to inquire into the Jamaica contract and endorsed the charges against him, but no action was taken. Bristow helped finance the continental war and, in 1744, was among the underwriters of a government loan, with a share £150,000. In 1744 he was also appointed a trustee for a loan of £200,000 to the King of Sardinia. In 1744, he was involved in raising supplies for the war. He was returned as MP for St Ives again at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th 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 Henr ...

. In 1753 he was a financier who lent Danzig £90,000. At the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

, Bristow was returned as MP for

again. He suffered great losses in the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, which led to financial difficulties for him from then on. In November he and his partners were asked by the Treasury to procure provisions for Portugal, and in December Bristow and Burrell were appointed to provide money for the relief of those distressed in Portugal, and were to be paid £100,000 to cover costs. He became sub-governor of the South Sea Company in 1756. At the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the 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 Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

, he was returned as MP for

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

on the government interest. By this time he was owing the government considerable sums, but argued that his estate in Norfolk would provide more than enough to cover the amount, and he was owed large sums in Portugal. He went to Portugal and probably stayed there as he was absent for much of the parliament. He did not stand at the

1768 British general election The 1768 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 13th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election took plac ...

Death and legacy

Bristow died in Portugal on 14 November 1768 leaving four sons and eleven daughters. He was buried in Lisbon's British Cemetery. His daughter Caroline married William Henry Lyttleton, MP. His daughter, Frances, married

Richard Neave Richard Neave (born c 1936) is a British expert in forensic facial reconstruction. Neave became an expert in anatomical art and was on the staff of the Unit of Art in Medicine at the University of Manchester. He has used his skill in recreating f ...

later

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

. Another daughter, Harriot Elizabeth Slessor, who married an army officer stationed in Portugal, is an ancestor of actress

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

.The Genealogist - Who Do You Think You Are - Olivia Colman
/ref> Bristow had acquired Quidenham Hall after 1740 and added an East Wing in Palladian style and a West portico supported by large Doric columns. Bristow's brother Robert Bristow (1688–1737) and his nephew Robert Bristow (1712–1776) were both MPs for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. Th ...

, which had been his father's seat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristow, John 1701 births 1768 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 English businesspeople