John Rudge (15 August 1669 – 22 March 1740), of Mark Lane,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and Evesham Abbey, Worcestershire, was a

merchant and

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

, and Whig 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 ...

almost continuously between 1698 and 1734. He was a

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 ...

from 1713 to 1715.

Early life and family

Rudge was the eldest surviving son of

Edward Rudge Edward Rudge (27 June 1763 – 1846) was an English botanist and antiquary. Life He was the son of Edward Rudge, a merchant and alderman of Salisbury, who possessed a large portion of the abbey estate at Evesham. He matriculated from Queen' ...

, merchant of London, and his wife Susanna Dethick, daughter of Sir John Dethick of London. His father had purchased the manor of Evesham in 1664, and represented the borough in Parliament. Rudge was chosen Mayor of Evesham for 1691. On his father's death in 1696, he succeeded to the estate of

Evesham Abbey Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in Worcestershire, England between 700 and 710 following an alleged vision of the Virgin Mary by a swineherd by the name of Eof. According to the monastic history, Evesham came through the Nor ...

. He married Susanna Letten, the daughter and heiress of John Letten of London on 10 January 1699.

Business career

Rudge quickly took control of his father's trading interests after his father's death and became a leading figure in the City of London. He was active in the Mediterranean trade, and lent money to the consul at Alicante. In 1696 he was appointed an assistant in the Royal African Company and to the committee of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. In June 1698 he provided £2,000 towards the incorporation of the New East India Company. In 1700 he signed a petition of merchants trading to Portugal. He was a director of the Bank of England from 1699 to 1711. By 1702 he had sold his stock in the Old East India Company, preferring to invest in the New East India Company, of which he was a director from 1704 to 1708. He was elected

Deputy Governor of the Bank of England A Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is the holder of one of a small number of senior positions at the Bank of England, reporting directly to the Governor. According to the original charter of 27 July 1694 the Bank's affairs would be supervise ...

for 1711 to 1713 and made

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for 1713 to 1715. He subsequently resumed his directorship from 1715 to his death. He was also Deputy-Governor of 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 ...

from 1721 to 1730.

Political career

Rudge was elected

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 Evesham at a by-election 11 March 1698. He was returned again in a contest at the general election later in 1698. After being returned unopposed in January 1701 he was defeated in the ballot for commissioners of accounts, receiving only 20 votes. He lost his seat at the election of November 1701, when his interest was weakened by a money dispute with his relatives in the town, but he regained it at the 1702 English general election. He was not active on important committees, possibly because of his responsibility as a director of the Bank, and later the New East India Company. He voted on 13 February 1703 for agreeing the Lords’ amendments to the bill extending the time for taking the abjuration oath. On 23 February 1705 he acted as a teller for a clause to be added to the bill prohibiting all trade and commerce with France. Rudge was returned again at Evesham at the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of "Church in Danger" occurring in several boroughs. During the pre ...

. He voted for the Court candidate for Speaker on 25 October 1705. He was not an active Member in this Parliament and his political stance remained in question. At the 1708 general election he was returned again for Evesham. He supported the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709, and voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. He was returned unopposed as a Whig at the 1710 British general election.. By 1710 he was credited with £4,000 of stock in the Bank of England and his interest in its affairs led to his election as deputy-governor in May 1711 on the Whig ticket, which brought him into contact with the ministry of Robert Harley. In July 1712 he was representing the Bank at a meeting with the Treasury, and his brother Edward Rudge was appointed a lottery commissioner for 1712 to 1714. However, in the Commons he adopted a Whig stance. On 25 May 1711 he voted against an amendment on the South Sea bill and on 7 December he voted for the ‘

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

’ motion. On 9 June 1713 he acted as a teller on a bill relating to a historical omission on the proceedings of a treaty of commerce. On 18 June he voted against the French commerce bill. At the 1713 British general election, he was returned again. On 18 March, he voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele. Rudge was returned as Whig MP for Evesham at the 1715 general election, but voted against the Administration in every recorded division during the reign of King George I. He was returned again at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Th ...

and at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trig ...

. In the reign of King George II his only recorded vote was against the repeal of the Septennial Act in 1734. He lost his seat at Evesham 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 ...

Death and legacy

Rudge died on 22 March 1740. He had a son Edward, and two daughters. He was buried in Wheatfield, Oxfordshire where his son was living. His tomb was sculpted by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudge, John 1669 births 1740 deaths Bankers from London British merchants Deputy Governors of the Bank of England Governors of the Bank of England English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734

Early life and family

Business career

Political career

Death and legacy

See also

References