Sir Abraham Elton, 2nd Baronet (

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

30 June 1679 – 20 October 1742) of Bristol and

Clevedon Court Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was built and added to over man ...

, Somerset, was a British merchant,

slave trader The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic, and legal positions o ...

and Whig politician, who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

for

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

between 1724 and 1727, and then for

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

from 1727 until his death in 1742. He also served as the

High Sheriff of Bristol This is a list of civic sheriffs and high sheriffs of the County of the City of Bristol, England. The office of high sheriff is over 1,000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The high sheriff remained first in precedence ...

from 1710 to 1711, and was

Mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol was the political leader of Bristol City Council. The mayor was a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, was responsible for the strategic government of the city of Bristol, En ...

for the year 1719 to 1720.

Early life

Elton's exact date of birth is not known, but he was

on 30 June 1679. He was the eldest son of Abraham Elton (later created the first of the

Elton baronets The Elton Baronetcy, of Bristol, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 31 October 1717 for Abraham Elton, Mayor of and Member of Parliament for Bristol from 1722 to 1727. The second Baronet was also Mayor of Bristol ...

), and his wife Mary Jefferies.

Career

file:Clevedon 2 (front, 2011).jpg, left,

Elton was a merchant and industrialist, and like his father before him, he served as the

in 1710–11. He invested in slave ships with his brothers, Isaac and Jacob. He was the Master 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 went on to fund the 15th-century voyage of John Cabot to Canada. In 1552, it gained a mono ...

in 1719 and Mayor of Bristol from 1719 to 1720, but in 1720 he was made bankrupt during the "

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

". As soon as he completed his term as Mayor, he left Bristol and travelled to France, and did not return until his father paid off his debts. Upon his father's death on 9 February 1728, Elton became Sir Abraham Elton, 2nd Baronet, and inherited

Member of Parliament

Elton returned to England by 1724, and stood in the Taunton by-election of 1724 for the Whigs, as an unexpected late entrant. He was duly elected to serve as a Member of Parliament for

, though one of the other candidates, George Deane, filed a petition against his election. The petition was rejected by a vote of 151 to 104. He only served Taunton until the general election in 1727, when his father vacated his seat in

. At the resulting election, Elton paid his

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 ...

opponent £1,000 to withdraw from the election, allowing him to be returned unopposed. In Parliament, he became a member of the gaols committee. In February 1730 he spoke against the

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English trading company established in 1660 by the House of Stuart and City of London merchants to trade along the West African coast. It was overseen by the Duke of York, the brother of Charles II of Eng ...

's petition to be spared the cost of maintaining their forts. He often petitioned government on mercantile issues, amongst them: in 1730 for the removal of

duty A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...

on soaps and candles, five separate times for the removal of duty on Irish yarn, and twice against the introduction of slave duties. He was said to have made a "bantering speech" against the proposed Excise Bill of 1733. Elton topped the poll in a contest at the 1734 general election. He continued raising petitions on mercantile issues, and voted with the Opposition in all recorded divisions. He was returned unopposed at the 1741 general election.

Personal life

On 14 May 1702, Elton married Abigail Bayly (1677–1724), the daughter of Zachary Bayly of Charlcot House, near Westbury, Wiltshire and Northwood Park, near Glastonbury, Somerset. * Jacob Elton (d. 1745), a Captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

who was killed in action in a sea battle with the French; he married Caroline Yate, daughter of Charles Yate. * Mary Elton (1706–1755), who married James Heywood, of

Maristow Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century a ...

(near Roborough in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

) and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. * Sir Abraham Elton, 3rd Baronet (1703–1761), who served as Sheriff of Bristol and died unmarried. * Elizabeth Elton (1716–1790), who married Capt. George Forster. * Sir Abraham Isaac Elton, 4th Baronet (1717–1790), who married Elizabeth Read, daughter of James Read, in 1747.George Edward Cokayne, editor, ''The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes'' (no date (c. 1900); reprint,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume V, page 84. Elton died on 20 October 1742, leaving three sons and three daughters. The baronetage passed to his eldest son, who became Sir Abraham Elton, 3rd Baronet but died without issue. The baronetcy then passed to his brother Sir (Abraham) Isaac Elton, 4th Baronet. Another of Elton's sons, Jacob, became a Royal Navy captain but was killed in a sea battle. Elton's daughters Mary and Elizabeth both married.

Descendants

Through his daughter Mary, he was a grandfather of

James Modyford Heywood James Modyford Heywood (c1729 – 22 March 1798) was an English Member of Parliament for Fowey, plantation owner in Jamaica, and Lord of the Admiralty. Early life Heywood was the only son of James Heywood (c1684–1738), of Maristow (near Rob ...

, MP for

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

. Through his youngest son, Abraham Isaac Elton, he was a grandfather of the Rev. Sir Abraham Elton, 5th Baronet (1755–1842).Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, U.S.A.:

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elton, Abraham 1679 births 1742 deaths British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain High sheriffs of Bristol Mayors of Bristol 18th-century English slave traders Members of the Society of Merchant Venturers