Norreys Bertie (?1718 – 25 October 1766) was an English Tory politician. From a junior branch of the Bertie family which had inherited estates at
Weston-on-the-Green in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, he represented that county in Parliament from 1743 until standing down before the bitterly contested
1754 election. He was unfriendly to the Hanoverian succession and sat in opposition to the government.
Norreys was the son of James Bertie (d. 1728), of
Springfield, Essex
Springfield has been a civil parish of the Chelmsford (borough), Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England, since 1907. The parish takes in the portion of the town north of river Chelmer and west of the A12 bypass and originally comprised the manors ...
, and Elizabeth Harris, and grandson of Hon.
Henry Bertie and Philadelphia Norreys. His father succeeded to the Norreys estates upon the death of James Norreys in 1718, and Norreys succeeded him in 1728.
The estates included the manors of Weston-on-the Green in Oxfordshire,
Yattendon
Yattendon is a small village and civil parish northeast of Newbury in the county of Berkshire. The M4 motorway passes through the fields of the village which lie south and below the elevations of its cluster. The village is privately owned ...
,
Hampstead Norreys
Hampstead Norreys (alternatively spelt ''Hampstead Norris'' as it is pronounced) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is centred on the small tributary the River Pang, north of Newbury.
Amenities
Hampstead Norreys was award ...
, and
Bothampstead in Berkshire.
He matriculated at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
on 5 December 1734, at the age of 16. He received his
MA on 27 May 1738.
On 12 September 1741, he bought the manor of Notley and
Notley Abbey
Notley Abbey was an Augustinian abbey founded in the 12th century near Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England. A team from Oxford excavated Notley Abbey in 1937, establishing a layout and timeline of the building's construction. The building ...
from his uncle, Rev. Charles.
At the
1741 election, his second cousin once removed, the
Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Barones ...
, supported him as a Tory candidate for
Westbury.
Bertie and the opposition Whig
John Bance were both defeated by the Government candidates,
Joseph Townshend and Hon.
George Evans.
He stood again in 1743, at a by-election in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
following the succession of the
3rd Earl of Lichfield to the peerage. Oxfordshire was a Tory stronghold in which the Bertie and Norreys families had traditionally been prominent,
and Bertie was returned unopposed. He sat in opposition to the
Carteret and
Pelham ministries, and in the debate in January 1744, spoke for the recall and disbanding of the British troops in Flanders. He also opposed the employment of Hanoverian troops, and refused to join the Oxfordshire association in defense of the Hanoverian succession during the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...
.
At the
1747 election, he was returned unopposed in Oxfordshire,
and for unknown reasons received a single vote at Westbury (where the Abingdon interest backed Bance and the Tory
Paul Methuen).
He opposed the
regency bill
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
in 1751, and seconded a motion for the reduction of the army in that year.
At the
1754 election, Bertie stood down but continued to support the Tory candidates for Oxfordshire, which experienced a particularly
tempestuous poll. Bertie spent the end of his life on the continent,
evidently in increasing financial straits; he was forced to mortgage Notley Abbey to discharge the mortgage on Hampstead Norreys farm. He was not able to redeem Notley and sold it to the banker
Francis Child on 12 September 1758.
Bertie died bankrupt at
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
in 1766.
Unmarried, he left his estate to his second cousin once removed, Captain
Peregrine Bertie.
Hampstead Norreys
Hampstead Norreys (alternatively spelt ''Hampstead Norris'' as it is pronounced) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is centred on the small tributary the River Pang, north of Newbury.
Amenities
Hampstead Norreys was award ...
was charged with an annuity to Peregrine's sister Elizabeth, wife of
John Gallini
Giovanni Andrea Battista Gallini (born Florence, Italy, 7 January 1728, died London, 5 January 1805), later known as Sir John Andrew Gallini, was an Italian dancer, choreographer and impresario who was made a "Knight of the Order of the Golden Sp ...
.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Norreys
1710s births
1766 deaths
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
British MPs 1741–1747
British MPs 1747–1754
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies