John Hedworth (1683–1747), of Chester Deanery, Durham, was a British colliery owner 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 ...

for 34 years from 1713 to 1747.

Early life

Hedworth was baptized on 10 July 1683, the eldest surviving son of Ralph Hedworth of Chester Deanery and his wife Eleanor Lambton, daughter of Henry Lambton of Lambton Hall, county Durham. His family were leading coal owners in Sunderland. He matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford on 18 March 1700, aged 16, and was admitted at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1700. In 1705 he succeeded to the estates, and notably the coalfields, of his father. He married by a settlement dated 28 August 1714, Susanna Sophia Pleasant, daughter of William Pleasant, merchant, of London.

Career

In 1711 coal owners from Northumberland sought the support of their Durham counterparts in opposing a bill in Parliament to prevent combinations in the coal trade and specifically approached Hedworth as a leading figure. He was then 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 County Durham at the 1713 general election. He was not very active MP but voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 March 1714. He was lobbied to oppose a petition proposed by William Wrightson to make the way-leaves on the Tyne free and was involved in helping to draft a bill enabling the endowment of poor vicarages. His politics seem to have been somewhat unfathomable, as he was classed in various lists as a Whig, as a Tory, and as a Whig who often voted with the Tories. Hedworth was returned as a Whig at the 1715 general election but continued to show himself as of an independent mind. In that Parliament, he voted with the Opposition in almost all recorded divisions. He was Mayor of Hartlepool for the year 1716 to 1717. He was returned to Parliament again at the general elections in

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), a ...

and

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

, and his only recorded vote was against the Government on the

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Customs officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

in 1733. He was Mayor of Hartlepool again for the year 1728 to 1729 and became a freeman of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1731. After he was returned at the 1734 general election, he voted for the Government on the Spanish convention in 1739 and against them on the place bill in 1740. He was Mayor of Hartlepool for a third time for the year 1740 to 1741 and was returned as MP for County Durham at the 1741 general election. He supported the Government with regard to the chairman of the elections committee on 16 December1741, and in October 1742 was put down as a Pelham supporter. He voted for the Hanoverians in only one of the divisions in 1744 and was classed as Old Whig in 1746.

Later life and legacy

Hedworth married as his second wife Margaret Ayton (died 1731), daughter of Samuel Ayton of West Herrington, county Durham on 14 August 1729. He died ‘of a violent colic’on 31 May 1747. He had one daughter by each of his two wives, Eleanor and Elizabeth, respectively, and his estate passed to them. The elder married Sir Richard Hylton, 5th Baronet, formerly Musgrave, whose only surviving daughter, Eleanor married William Jolliffe, and was mother of Hylton Jolliffe. The younger married

Sir Ralph Milbanke, 5th Baronet Sir Ralph Milbanke (1725-1798) was an English baronet and Member of Parliament for Scarborough between 1754–61 and later for Richmond between 1761 and 1768. Life Milbanke was born 1725 into an aristocratic landed Yorkshire family. His father ...

MP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedworth, John 1683 births 1747 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747