Sir John Verney, (23 October 16995 August 1741) of Compton Verney, Warwickshire, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

barrister, judge and Tory and then 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. ...

from between 1722 and 1741.

Early life

Verney was born in Brasted,

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 ...

on 23 October 1699, the fifth son of George Verney, 12th

Baron Willoughby de Broke Baron Willoughby de Broke is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1491 for Sir Robert Willoughby, of the manor of Broke, part of Westbury, Wiltshire, who according to modern doctrine was ''de jure'' 9th Baron Latime ...

and his wife Margaret Heath, daughter of Sir John Heath of Brasted. He matriculated at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

on 11 October 1714, aged 15, and was admitted at the

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 an ...

in 1715. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

ex gratia in 1721. On 16 September 1724 he married Abigail Harley, the daughter of Sir Edward Harley, the younger brother of Queen Anne's Tory minister, Robert Harley, created Earl of Oxford.

Career

In an attempt to gain contacts for his work as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, Verney decided to stand for Parliament. 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. Tha ...

he was returned as

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 ...

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 ...

(MP) for Downton with the help of his brother-in-law,

Anthony Duncombe Anthony Duncombe (died 4 April 1708), was an English politician. Duncombe was the son of Alexander Duncombe, of Drayton, Buckinghamshire, by Mary Paulye, daughter of Richard Paulye, Lord of the Manor of Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire. Wealthy bank ...

. He spoke on 22 January 1724 against the Government of the Whig Prime Minister

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

on a motion for maintaining the existing strength of the army. In 1726 he switched sides, and supported the government on a similar motion on 28 January 1726. At the end of the year he was rewarded by being appointed a Welsh judge as 2nd justice of Brecon circuit. He was returned as MP after the consequential by-election, and a few days he spoke for the Government on an opposition motion about sending a fleet to the Baltic. In 1727 he became a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. 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 trigg ...

he stood again at Downton and also at Radnor as a backup. He was unsuccessful at Radnor, but was returned again for Downton. In 1728 he was made a Bencher 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 ...

, having switched Inns some time earlier. Verney spoke in a financial debate on 4 March 1728 but he apparently displayed gross ignorance in a ridiculous contribution. In May 1729 he was made Attorney General to the Queen Consort, Queen Caroline. In 1730 and 1731 he spoke in support of the Hessians and against a petition to abolish 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 Southea ...

's monopoly. He resigned from his Welsh post in 1732 because of ill-health, but accepted an appointment as Chief Justice of Cheshire. On 8 February 1733 he opposed the receipt of a petition from the York Buildings Society stating that ‘the law would redress any abuses of this nature’, but the House did not take his advice. At the 1734 British general election Verney stood aside at Downton as the seat was taken by Duncombe for himself. He was again defeated at Radnor and so was out of Parliament. After the death of Sir

Joseph Jekyll Sir Joseph Jekyll (166319 August 1738), of Westminster, was a British barrister, judge and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 40 years from 1697 to 1738. He became Master of the Rolls in 1717. Early lif ...

on 19 August 1738, Verney applied to succeed him as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales a ...

, and was accepted after the position was turned down by

Sir John Strange Sir John Strange (1696 – 18 May 1754) was a British politician and judge. Life He was born to another John Strange of Fleet Street, London and his second wife, Mary Plaistowe. He studied Law at the Middle Temple on 11 July 1712 before starti ...

. He took office on 9 October 1738, and was sworn in on 12 October. After a few years, his ill-health made it impossible to continue as Master of the Rolls, and he offered his resignation to the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

in early 1741. At the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

he was returned again for Downton, but died before Parliament met.

Death and legacy

Verney died on 5 August 1741 leaving a son and two daughters. His son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, succeeded his childless uncle (Verney's brother) as

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verney, John 1699 births 1741 deaths English King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Masters of the Rolls Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain 18th-century King's Counsel Members of Lincoln's Inn Tory MPs (pre-1834) Alumni of New College, Oxford People from Brasted Younger sons of barons