Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, PC (23 June 1716 – 1 January 1789) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1782 when he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

Baron Grantley Baron Grantley, of Markenfield, in the County of York is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 9 April 1782 for Sir Fletcher Norton, Attorney General from 1763 to 1765 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1770 to 178 ...

Life

Norton was the eldest son of Thomas Norton of Grantley, Yorkshire. He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

and the Middle Temple, being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1739. After a period of inactivity, he built up a profitable practice, becoming a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1754, and later attorney-general for the county palatine of Lancaster. With his father he ordered the building in the mid-1700s of Grantley Hall, near Ripon in North Yorkshire. In 1756 Norton was elected Member of Parliament for Appleby; he represented Wigan from 1761 to 1768, and was appointed solicitor-general for England and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1762. He took part in the proceedings against John Wilkes, and, having become Attorney General for England and Wales in 1763, prosecuted William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, for the murder of

William Chaworth William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. However, he lost his office when the Marquess of Rockingham came to power in July 1765. In 1769, as MP for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Norton became a privy councillor and chief

Justice in Eyre In English law, the justices in eyre were the highest magistrates, and presided over the ''court of justice-seat'', a triennial court held to punish offenders against the forest law and enquire into the state of the forest and its officers ('' eyr ...

of the forests south of the Trent, and in 1770 was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1777, when presenting the bill for the increase of the civil list to the king, he told George III that "parliament has not only granted to your majesty a large present supply, but also a very great additional revenue; great beyond example; great beyond your majesty's highest expense." This speech aroused general attention and caused some irritation; but the Speaker was supported by Charles James Fox and by the city of London, and received the thanks of the House of Commons. The king did not forget these plain words, and after the general election of 1780, the prime minister, Lord North, and his followers declined to support the re-election of the retiring Speaker, alleging that his health was not equal to the duties of the office, and he was defeated when the voting took place. In 1782 he was made a peer as

of Markenfield in the County of York. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1776. He died in 1789 at his London home in Lincoln's Inn Fields and was buried at Wonersh, Surrey. In 1741 he had married Grace, the daughter and heiress of Sir William Chapple, Justice of the King's Bench, 1737–1745. They had 5 sons and 2 daughters. He was succeeded as Baron Grantley by his eldest son William (1742–1822). Nathaniel William Wraxall described Norton as a bold, able and eloquent, but not a popular pleader, and as Speaker he was aggressive and indiscreet. Derided by satirists as "Sir Bullface Doublefee," and described by

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

as one who rose from obscure infamy to that infamous fame which will long stick to him, his character was also assailed by "

Junius Junius often refers to: * Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles * The nomen of the ancient Roman * or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar * Rosa Luxemburg's ''Junius Pa ...

Family

Grantley married Grace Chapple, daughter and heir of Sir William Chapple, Justice of the King's bench, on 21 May 1741. They had four sons and a daughter: * William Norton, 2nd Baron Grantley (1742–1822) *Hon. Fletcher Norton MP

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1744–1820); father of Hon. Charles Francis Norton and Hon. George Chapple Norton *Hon. Chapple Norton (1746–1818) *Hon. Edward Norton (1750–1786) *Hon. Grace Norton (1752–1813), married John Wallop, 3rd Earl of Portsmouth

Arms

References

*Horace Walpole, ''Memoirs of the Reign of George III.'', edited by G. F. R. Barker (1894); *Sir N. W. Wraxall, ''Historical and Posthumous Memoirs'', edited by H. B. Wheatley (1884); *J. A. Manning, ''Lives of the Speakers'' (1850); *Hammond Innes, ''The Last Voyage: Captain Cook's Lost Diary'', (N.Y.: Knopf, 1978). Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grantley, Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron 1716 births 1789 deaths People from the Borough of Harrogate Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Attorneys General for England and Wales Peers of Great Britain created by George III Knights Bachelor Solicitors General for England and Wales Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Norton, Fletcher Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Fellows of the Royal Society Fletcher 1

Life

Family

Arms

See also

References