Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) 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. T ...
between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.
Foundation
The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire ...
in Hampshire and a patron of
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
. He was an occasional player but rarely in first-class matches.
Early life
Mann was the only surviving son of Galfridus Mann, an army clothier, of
Boughton Place
Boughton Place, formerly Bocton Place or Bocton Hall, is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. It is the historic home of the Wotton family and birthplace of Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639), ambassador to Venice under James I.
H ...
in
Boughton Malherbe, Kent and his wife Sarah Gregory, daughter of John Gregory of London. He was educated at
Charterhouse School and entered
Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1760. His father died on 21 December 1756 and he succeeded to his estates at Boughton and Linton. He also inherited over £100,000 from his father. Mann married Lady Lucy Noel, daughter of
Baptist Noel, 4th Earl of Gainsborough, on 13 April 1765.
Cricket
Mann had a number of influential friends including
John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, KG (25 March 174519 July 1799) was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. His mother was the former Lady Frances Leveson-Gower. He succeeded ...
, with whom he shared a keen cricketing rivalry. He owned
Boughton Place
Boughton Place, formerly Bocton Place or Bocton Hall, is a country house in Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. It is the historic home of the Wotton family and birthplace of Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639), ambassador to Venice under James I.
H ...
in
Boughton Malherbe and
Linton Park
Linton Park, formerly Linton Place or Linton Hall, is a large 18th-century country house in Linton, Kent, England. Built by Robert Mann in 1730 to replace a much earlier building called 'Capell's Court' The estate passed through the ownership of ...
in
Linton, both near Maidstone, and later had his family seat at
Bourne Park House
Bourne Park House is a Queen Anne style country house on Bourne Park Road, between Bishopsbourne and Bridge near Canterbury in Kent. Built in 1701, it has been listed Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England since 1954. An 18th ...
, near
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
. Within its grounds he had his own cricket ground
Bourne Paddock
Bourne Paddock was a cricket ground at Bourne Park House, the seat of Sir Horatio Mann, at Bishopsbourne around south-east of Canterbury in the English county of Kent. It was a venue for first-class cricket matches from 1766 to 1790.
The ground ...
which staged many
first-class matches in the 1770s and 1780s. He later moved to
Dandelion
''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...
, near
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
, and established another ground there which was used for some first-class games towards the end of the 18th century.
Mann was a member of the ''Committee of Noblemen and Gentlemen of
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
,
Surrey,
Sussex,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He was a member of the committee at The Star and Garter'' in
Pall Mall, which drew up a new revision of the
Laws of Cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
on 25 February 1774.
Arthur Haygarth
Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...
, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744–1826) p.16, Lillywhite, 1862
Political career
Mann was nephew of
Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet
Sir Horace (Horatio) Mann, 1st Baronet KB (8 August 1706 – 6 November 1786), was a long-standing British resident and diplomat in Florence.
Life and career
Mann was the second son of Robert Mann (1678–1751), a successful London merchant, an ...
who was a British diplomat in Tuscany from 1738 to 1786. He was knighted on 10 June 1772, to act as proxy for his uncle at the installation of the Bath.
[
Mann's ownership of Linton gave him electoral interest at ]Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
. At the 1774 general election he contested Maidstone, having deferred a planned journey abroad for his wife's health. He topped the poll and was returned as 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 o ...
for the seat. In 1775 his uncle made over to him the family estate at Bourne, in return for an annuity. He did go abroad and after visiting France, Tuscany, and Austria, returned to England in November 1778. From then on he travelled to his uncle in Florence nearly every summer. At the 1780 general election he was again returned for Maidstone at the head of the poll. He joined Brooks
Brooks may refer to:
Places
;Antarctica
*Cape Brooks
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* Brooks, Alabama
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* Brooks Township, Michigan ...
in 1780, and was a member of the St. Alban's Tavern group of country gentlemen who tried to reconcile Fox and Pitt. He did not stand in the 1784 general election.[
Mann was in Florence when his uncle died on 6 November 1786 and succeeded to the ]baronetcy
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
as second baronet. He acted as chargé d'affaires in Florence for six months.[ He was angered by the poor recompense he received for his services and returned to Italy in 1788 ostensibly to sort out the financial problems which resulted from running his uncle's establishment.]
Mann joined the Whig Club in January 1790 and at the following 1790 general election was elected in a contest as MP for Sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
. He was returned unopposed in 1796
Events
January–March
* January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.)
* February 1 – The capital ...
and 1802
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they were at risk of destruction during the O ...
. By this time he was becoming increasingly absent in parliament mainly through ill-health when gout struck him. He avoided a contest and was returned in the 1806 general election, but was defeated in 1807
Events
January–March
* January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies.
* January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with ...
.
Later life and legacy
Mann was described by Samuel Egerton Brydges as a wild, fickle, rattling man, who made no impression. In 1811 it was said that his estate would have been the largest in Kent but by his extravagance he reduced his income to not more than £4,000 a year. He died on 2 April 1814. He had three daughters, but no son and the baronetcy became extinct. His property went to his nephew James Cornwallis. Cornwallis's father wrote soon after "My son has had a great deal of trouble in consequence of succeeding a person really ruined. The sums Sir Horace expended are beyond all belief, or rather squandered."
Mann is variously called Sir Horatio and Sir Horace in the sources. Horace was used as a diminutive of Horatio so both names can be regarded as correct usage. He was always called Horace in ''Scores and Biographies'', the main source for his cricketing activities.
References
Further reading
* ''A Dictionary of British and Irish Travellers in Italy, 1701–1800'', Compiled from the Brinsley Ford
Sir Richard Brinsley Ford (10 June 1908 – 4 May 1999) was a British art historian, scholar, and collector. He inherited a large collection of art from his family and was himself an avid collector. A drawing that he purchased in 1936 was sold ...
Archive by John Ingamells, Yale, 1997.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Horatio
1744 births
1814 deaths
People from the Borough of Maidstone
People educated at Charterhouse School
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806
UK MPs 1806–1807
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1787 to 1825
English cricketers of 1701 to 1786
Kent cricketers
Cricket patrons
People from Boughton Malherbe