Matthew Ducie Moreton, 1st Baron Ducie (1663–1735) of

Moreton, Staffordshire Moreton is a small rural village in the borough of Stafford in Staffordshire, England, near the border with Shropshire. It lies south-west from the former site of Gnosall railway station, and south-east from Newport, both on the Stafford an ...

, and

Tortworth Tortworth is a small village and civil parish, near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, Thornbury in Gloucestershire, England. It has a population of 147 as of 2011. It lies on the B4509 road, which crosses the M5 motorway to the west of Tortworth. ...

, Gloucestershire, was a British Army officer 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. ...

between 1708 and 1720 when he was raised to the peerage as

Baron Ducie Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...

. Moreton was baptized on 17 March 1663, the eldest son of Edward Moreton of Moreton and Engleton, Staffordshire and his wife Elizabeth Ducie, daughter of Robert Ducie of Little Aston, Staffordshire. His mother was heir to her uncle William Ducie, 1st Viscount Downe, of Tortworth, who died in 1679. He was admitted at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

in 1681 and awarded MA in 1682. Moreton joined the army and was a cornet in Lord Grey's independent troop of horse in 1685 at the time of the Monmouth rebellion. This was disbanded after the

Battle of Sedgemoor The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerse ...

. In 1687, he transferred to the

3rd Dragoon Guards The 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) ...

and served in Flanders during the reign of William III. His father died in 1687 and he succeeded to his estate. He was a captain by September 1689 and Major in 1690. He married Arabella Prestwick (died 1750), daughter of Sir Thomas Prestwick, 2nd Baronet, of Hulme, Lancashire on 11 January 1690. He became a lieutenant colonel in 1694 and resigned his commission between 1697 and 1702, after the end of the war in Flanders. He was successively

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

for the year 1704 to 1705, and

High Sheriff of Gloucestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire, who should not be confused with the Sheriffs of the City of Gloucester. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (in England and Wales the office previously kn ...

for the year 1705 to 1706. Tortworth Court Front

At the

1708 general election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

Moreton 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 of ...

for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

on the Whig interest. He was active in Parliament and supported Whig policies. The electoral contest at Gloucestershire in

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin b ...

was hard-fought, but Moreton was returned as MP despite having expressed contrary views on the Church of England. He was narrowly defeated at Gloucestershire at the 1713 general election. He regained his seat at Gloucestershire in

1715 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 ...

. In 1717, he was appointed vice-treasurer for Ireland in 1717 and made an Irish Privy Councillor. In 1720 he was relieved of his lucrative post to make way for someone else, and created Baron Ducie on 9 June 1720 as compensation. Consequently, he was required to vacate his seat in the House of Commons. Lord Ducie died on 2 May 1735 and was buried at Tortworth aged 76. He and his wife had three sons and four daughters. He was succeeded by his son

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

. One daughter, Elizabeth, married Francis Reynolds from whom the Barons Ducie of the second creation was descended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreton, Matthew Ducie, 1st Baron Ducie 1660s births 1734 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 High Sheriffs of Staffordshire High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire Ducie Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge