John Calcraft the Younger (16 October 1765 – 11 September 1831), of Rempstone in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

and Ingress in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. The illegitimate son and principal heir of John Calcraft the Elder, a politician who had made a fortune as an army contractor, Calcraft inherited his father's estates while still a child. The property included control of the

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

of Wareham in Dorset, and while still three months short of coming of age he was returned as its Member of Parliament (MP) in 1786. He is not recorded as having spoken in the House during his first Parliament, and did not stand for re-election in 1790, but subsequently re-entered the House, representing Wareham again (1800–1806 and 1818–1831),

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

(1806–1818) and

(1831). From 1800 until 1828, Calcraft was a Whig, and served briefly as a clerk of the ordnance (1806–1807) when the party held power under

Lord Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...

. However, in 1828 he accepted office as

Paymaster of the Forces The Paymaster of the Forces was a position in the British government. The office was established in 1661, one year after the Restoration (1660), Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II, and was responsible for part of the financing of t ...

in the Duke of Wellington's

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

administration, and was raised to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

; but he broke with the Tories over parliamentary reform and returned to the Whigs in March 1831, voting for the

Reform Bill In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

in the crucial division on the second reading when it passed by a single vote. He was elected as a reformer for the county in the election that followed shortly afterwards, but becoming convinced that both sides in the Commons despised him he became mentally unstable, and later the same year he committed suicide. Calcraft married Elizabeth Hales, daughter of Sir Thomas Pym Hales, in 1790, and they had five surviving children. His two sons, John Hales Calcraft and Granby Calcraft, both became MPs for Wareham.

References

* * Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754–1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964) *

Michael Brock Michael George Brock (9 March 1920 – 30 April 2014) was a British historian who was associated with several Oxford colleges during his academic career. He was Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1978 to 1988. Youth and education Michae ...

, ''The Great Reform Act'' (London: Hutchinson, 1973)

External links

* 1765 births 1831 deaths British MPs 1784–1790 English landowners Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies British politicians who committed suicide {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub