John Damer (27 October 1720 – 1783) was an English country landowner 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. T ...

from 1762 to 1780. Damer was the second son of Joseph Damer MP of

Winterborne Came Winterborne Came is a small dispersed settlement and civil parish in the county of Dorset in England, situated in the west of the county, approximately south-east of the county town Dorchester. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of t ...

, and his wife Mary Churchill, daughter of John Churchill of Henbury, Dorset, and was born on 27 October 1720. Damer entered Trinity College, Dublin in March 1737. He married Martha Rush, daughter of Samuel Rush of Benhall, Suffolk on 15 April 1745. By 1751 his brother Joseph Damer, Lord Milton had acquired property at Milton Abbey and John Damar was left in possession of Winterborne Came. In 1754 he commissioned Francis Cartwright of Blandford to design and build

Came House Came House is a privately owned country house next to the village of Winterborne Came, in Dorset, England. Built in the mid-18th century, it is a Grade I listed building. Description History The house was built for John Damer by Francis Cartwrig ...

at Winterborne.'Winterborne Came', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 382-387. British History Online (accessed 22 December 2017)
/ref> Damer was returned unopposed 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 o ...

for Dorchester in place of his brother Joseph at a by-election on 7 May 1762. He was re-elected MP in a contest in

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House o ...

and again in 1774. He was generally in opposition and as his cousin, also John Damer, was also in the house, it is not clear which were his speeches. Damer stood down at the 1780 general election to make way for his nephew Hon. George Damer. Damer died on 26 December 1783. He and his wife Mary had no children.

References

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Damer, John (1720-1783) 1720 births 1783 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Dawson-Damer family Alumni of Trinity College Dublin