Matthew Wyldbore (c.1716- 15 March 1781) was a British 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 1768 to 1780 Wyldbore was the only surviving son of John Wyldbore of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and his wife Elizabeth Neale, daughter of Noah Neale of

Stamford Baron Stamford Baron St Martin was a civil parish in Stamford, England, including the southern part of Stamford, south of the River Welland, and therefore historically part of Northamptonshire. It remains an ecclesiastical parish used by the Church o ...

. He was

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on 15 April 1716 at

St John the Baptist Church, Peterborough St John the Baptist Church is a Grade I listed Church of England parish church in the city of Peterborough, now Cambridgeshire, England. Location The present St John the Baptist Church is situated in Cathedral Square and is only a few minutes w ...

. He was educated at

Newcome's School Newcome's School was a fashionable boys' school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their sons there. The school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 182 ...

in Hackney and entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

on 26 June 1733, aged 17. He was also admitted at Inner Temple on 27 March 1735. He succeeded his father in 1755. For many years, he was a member of the

Bedford Level Corporation The Bedford Level Corporation (or alternatively the Corporation of the Bedford Level) was founded in England in 1663 to manage the draining of the Fens of East Central England. It formalised the legal status of the Company of Adventurers previously ...

. Wyldbore served as Whig

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

, 1768–1780. He was notorious for bribing large portions of the electorate to vote for him, and there are political cartoons mocking his expenditure. Wyldbore died unmarried in 1781. A monument to his memory can be found in the

Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

. Wyldbore has a particular connection with St John's Church because of a legacy he left to the

bellringer A bell-ringer is a person who rings a bell, usually a church bell, by means of a rope or other mechanism. Despite some automation of bells for random swinging, there are still many active bell-ringers in the world, particularly those with an adv ...

s, reputedly in gratitude for when lost in the fog in

The Fens The Fens, also known as the , in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a ...

, he found his way safely to Peterborough, by following the sound of St John's bells. It has, however, been explained that the reason for the benefaction was that Wyldbore was an ardent campanologist, and desired to promote the study of bell-ringing. He left a bequest for a peal of bells on the anniversary of his death, a tradition which continues each 15 March. Matthew Wyldbore's Charity is still in existence.

References

1716 births 1781 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Newcome's School Campanologists People from Peterborough Whig (British political party) MPs {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub