Ralph Verney, 1st Earl Verney (18 March 1683 – 4 October 1752), of Middle Claydon, near

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

, Buckinghamshire, known as The Viscount Fermanagh until 1742, was initially a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

and later a Whig politician who sat in the

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in two phases between 1717 and 1752.

Early life

Verney was born at

Little Chelsea Little Chelsea was a hamlet, located on either side of Fulham Road, half a mile southwest of Chelsea, London. The earliest references to the settlement date from the early 17th century, and the name continued to be used until the hamlet was surr ...

, the only surviving son of

John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh (5 November 1640 – 23 June 1717), known as Sir John Verney, 2nd Baronet, between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1717. Early life ...

and his first wife Elizabeth Palmer, the eldest daughter of Ralph Palmer, and was baptised in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. He was educated at Mrs Morland's school at Hackney from around 1695 to 1700 and matriculated at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

in 1700. He married Catherine Paschall, eldest daughter of Henry Paschall of Baddow, Essex at St Giles in the Fields on 24 February 1708.

Career

Verney succeeded his father as viscount and took his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

on 23 June 1717. The latter title was in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and thus didn't prevent him from entering the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

. He was returned unopposed as Tory Member of Parliament for

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

at a by-election on 10 July 1717. In 1719, he voted against the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts and the Peerage Bill. At the 1722 British general election, he was returned again unopposed as MP for Amersham. He did not stand 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 ...

, by which time he was described as ‘being unconcerned for any party’. Verney did not sit in parliament for several years, but began to develop an electoral interest at Wendover. 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 elected MP for Wendover as a Whig. He voted consistently with the Administration and was created Earl Verney, in the Province of Leinster in 1743. He was returned unopposed for Wendover at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th 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 Hen ...

Family

Verney's wife died in 1748 and Verney survived her by four years, dying at Little Chelsea on 4 October 1752. They were both buried in Middle Claydon.Lodge (1789), p. 287 The couple had two sons and two daughters. The older son John predeceased him in 1737 and he was succeeded in his titles by his second son

Ralph Ralph (pronounced or ) is a male name of English origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Old High German ''Radulf'', cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms are: * Ra ...

. John's daughter Mary was raised to the Peerage in her own right in 1792.Beatson (1806), p. 177

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verney, Ralph Verney, 1st Earl of 1683 births 1752 deaths

British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons