Sir John Evelyn, 2nd Baronet (24 August 1706 – 11 June 1767) was a British courtier and Whig 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. ...

for 40 years from 1727 to 1767. Evelyn was born at

Wotton, Surrey Wotton is a well-wooded parish with one main settlement, a small village mostly south of the A25 between Guildford in the west and Dorking in the east. The nearest village with a small number of shops is Westcott. Wotton lies in a narrow vall ...

, the eldest son of

Sir John Evelyn, 1st Baronet of Wotton Sir John Evelyn, 1st Baronet (1 March 1682 – July 1763) of Wotton, Surrey, was a British official and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1710. His grandfather, the diarist John Evelyn, influenced his independent attitude i ...

, Commissioner of the customs, and his wife Anne Boscawen, daughter of Edward Boscawen, MP.

Cokayne, George Edward George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...

(1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . p. 17 He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, on 28 May 1725, aged 18. Evelyn was returned unopposed by Lord Godolphin 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 of ...

for

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

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 ...

. He voted with the Administration till 1738. He entered the service of Frederick, Prince of Wales, as Equerry from 1731 to 1733 and Groom of the bedchamber from 1733 to 1751. He was returned unopposed again as MP for Helston at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. In 1738, he followed Prince Frederick into opposition and was one of the opposition Whigs who withdrew on the motion to remove Walpole in February 1741. 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 returned as MP for Penryn by Lord Falmouth. He continued to follow the Prince’s politics, and supported the Administration after the fall of Walpole in 1742 until 1747, when Frederick reverted to opposition. 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 Henr ...

, he was returned again for Helston as a member of the Prince’s party, when Frederick paid £300 towards his election expenses. After Frederick’s death, Evelyn went over to the Government side. At the

1754 British general election The 1754 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 11th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Owing to the exten ...

Evelyn was returned unopposed again as MP for Helston. He was appointed clerk of the household to George, Prince of Wales in 1756. In 1760, he was appointed

Clerk of the Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal ...

to George, Prince of Wales, subsequently

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He was returned again as MP for Helston at the

1761 British general election The 1761 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 12th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. This was the first P ...

. He 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 ...

on the death of his father on 15 July 1763. Evelyn married Mary Boscawen, the fourth daughter of his maternal uncle,

Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth (pronounced "Boscowen") ( ; ca. 1680 – 25 October 1734), was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for Cornish constituencies from 1702 until 1720 when he was raised to the peerage ...

, on 17 August 1732 at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. She was born on 12 November 1705 and was baptised on 21 November 1705 at St. James's, Westminster. She died on 15 September 1749, and was buried at Wotton. He died on 11 June 1767 aged 60 at Wotton and was buried there 8 days later. He was succeeded by his only son

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

. There is a known lifetime portrait of Sir John, Attributed to Jonathan Richardson with family provenance formally with Cider House Galleries Ltd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evelyn, John, 2nd Baronet of Wotton 1706 births 1767 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall