Joseph Earle (c.1658 – 1730), was a British merchant of Bristol 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. ...

from 1710 to 1727.

Early life

Earle was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Earle, MP and

mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol is the head of government of Bristol and the chief executive of the Bristol City Council. The mayor is a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, is responsible for the strategic ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Ellinor Jackson, daughter of Joseph Jackson. He was the brother of Giles Earle. He married Elizabeth Cann, daughter of Sir Thomas Cann, merchant, of Bristol by licence dated. 18 November 1689. He succeeded his father in 1696.

Career

Earle had virtually talen over the mercantile business when his father died in 1696. He became a Member of the

Society of Merchant Venturers The Society of Merchant Venturers is a charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol. The society can be traced back to a 13th-century guild which funded the voyage of John Cabot to Canada. In 1552, it gained a monopoly on sea trading ...

of Bristol in 1697 and was Warden of the Society from 1709 to 1710. At the general election of 1710 he was elected as a Tory

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

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In parliament he was much concerned with trade and occasionally voted with the Whigs. He was president of the Loyal Society, Bristol from 1712 to 1713. At the 1713 general election, he was re-elected MP for Bristol. In Parliament he displayed more ambivalence in his voting choices and was described as a Whig who often voted with the Tories. At the

1715 general election Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

, he was elected as a Whig. He was master of the Society of Merchant Adventurers for the year 1721 to 1722; He was re-elected at the 1722 general election but began to fall out with parts of the Bristol voting community and was subjected to political attacks. He chose to stand rather than retire at the 1727 general election but as it turned out did not have enough support to poll.

Death and legacy

Earle died, aged 72, on 13 March 1730, and was buried at St. Werburgh's church, Bristol. He and his wife had one daughter Eleanor, who married William Benson and died in 1722. He left his property at Bristol and Crudwell to a younger brother, Robert. He left the remainder to his daughter's son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Joseph 1650s births 1730 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Society of Merchant Venturers