John Lewis (1738–1797) was a British lawyer and politician who was elected to sit 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. ...

three times between 1768 and 1780, but was each time unseated within a year. Lewis was the eldest son of Henry Lewis of Bedford Row, London and his wife Elizabeth Gustaphin and was born on 14 October 1738. He was admitted at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

on 25 November 1755 and called to the bar in 1764. He married firstly Mary Colby, daughter of Captain Charles Colby, RN on 15 December 1761. In March 1763 he was appointed Receiver of the King’s revenues for Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. He became Recorder of New Radnor in 1764 and bailiff in 1766. He succeeded his father on 18 January 1768 and was Recorder of New Radnor again in 1768. Lewis’s uncle Thomas Lewis, who had been MP for New Radnor for 46 years, wanted to return him 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 ...

for

New Radnor New Radnor ( cy, Maesyfed) is a village in Powys, Wales, to the south of Radnor Forest, and was the county town of Radnorshire. In the 2001 census, the community's population of 410 was split evenly between male and female, in 192 households. ...

but there were historical mistakes in the registration of freeman. At the 1768 general election Lewis was elected for Radnor, but was unseated on petition on 7 March 1769. At the 1774 general election the returning officer disallowed most of his opponent’s votes and returned Lewis, but he was again unseated on petition on 20 February 1775. His uncle Thomas Lewis died on 5 Apr. 1777 and Lewis succeeded to his estates at Harpton, near Radnor. His first wife had died in 1774 and he married as his second wife Ann Frankland, daughter of

Sir Thomas Frankland, 5th Baronet Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland, 5th Baronet (26 June 1718 – 21 November 1784) was a British naval officer, MP and slave trader. He was the second son of Henry Frankland and Mary Cross. Frankland was born in the East Indies (probably India), his f ...

on 24 March 1778. At Lewis's third parliamentary attempt in

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...

there was a double return and his opponent was successful. With his uncle now dead, he gave up and did not stand again. Lewis was bailiff again in 1786 and 1791 and was Recorder of New Radnor again in 1792. He was

High Sheriff of Radnorshire History The office of High Sheriff is over 1000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The Office of High Sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; ...

in 1792-3. He died on 6 November 1797.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John 1738 births 1797 deaths British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies High Sheriffs of Radnorshire