Sir John Major, 1st Baronet (17 May 1698 – 22 February 1781) was a British merchant,

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 ...

and Sheriff of Sussex. Major was born at

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, and started in business there, commanding a ship in the Stockholm trade. He apparently abandoned the sea at the age of around 30, but subsequently developed a thriving iron trade becoming eventually the largest dealer in the country. He built up a considerable fortune, acquiring extensive estates in Suffolk and Sussex and other land elsewhere in England, to a value of around £5,000 a year. Nevertheless, he put his shipping interests at the service of the nation when necessary, apparently at considerable cost to himself, providing ships to transport troops in time of war on more than one occasion. In 1724 he married Elizabeth Dale, daughter of another Bridlington merchant, and they had two daughters – Anne, who married John Henniker in 1747, and Elizabeth, who married

Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos Henry Brydges, 2nd Duke of Chandos, KB (17 January 1708 – 28 November 1771), known from 1727 to 1744 by the courtesy title Marquess of Carnarvon, was the second son of the 1st Duke of Chandos and his first wife Mary Lake. He was the Member ...

in 1767. At the age of 60 he decided to stand for Parliament, and in 1761 was elected unopposed as MP for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

(the nearest borough to Bridlington, where his business interests presumably gave him an influence); at the same election, his son-in-law Henniker was returned for Sudbury, and the two thereafter formed a close political and business partnership, seeking the government contracts that in those days were generally awarded to MPs ahead of their commercial rivals. They secured among others a contract for victualling the British troops in West

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and grants of land – each – in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. At the same time, Henniker lobbied the government to create Major a baronet. (Henniker's letter to the Prime Minister,

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

, in which he put his case, quoted by Namier & Brooke, is the main source of information on Major's early life.) On 5 July 1765, Major was created a Baronet, of Worlingsworth Hall in the County of Suffolk, with a special remainder to Henniker. Just five days after the warrant was signed Grenville's administration, to which Henniker and Major had adhered, was dismissed; the opportunity might easily not have arisen again. At the next election in 1768, Major was opposed by a government candidate at Scarborough and defeated. He did not stand for Parliament again. Major died on 22 February 1781, aged 82, and was succeeded in the baronetcy according to the special remainder by his son-in-law John Henniker, who was elevated to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Baron Henniker in 1800. He was also a Senior Elder Brother of Trinity House between 1741 and 1781, a director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

and was

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

for 1755–56.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Sir John, 1st Baronet 1698 births 1781 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from Bridlington High Sheriffs of Sussex Members of Trinity House