Sir Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet (1 August 1687 – 7 March 1733), of Waldershare, Kent, and Dover Street, Westminster, was an English Whig politician who sat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1708 to 1733.

Early life and family

Furnese was the son of

Sir Henry Furnese, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Furnese, 1st Baronet (30 May 1658 – 30 November 1712), of Waldershare, Kent, and Dover Street, Westminster, was an English merchant and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1712. Fur ...

, and his first wife, Anne Brough, daughter of Robert Brough.Cokayne, George Edward (1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 1–2. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

in 1697, and spent some time in Germany and Austria as a young man.

Political career

Furnese was abroad at the time of the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...

, but shortly after his return from the Continent, he was returned unopposed as Whig Member of Parliament for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

in a by-election on 16 December 1708. He voted for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. There was pressure for Furnese to stand for Thetford at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, but he was appointed to the Commission of the Peace for Kent and returned in a contest as Whig MP for

New Romney New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, w ...

. He voted for the "

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

" motion on 7 December 1711. On the death of his father on 30 November 1712, 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 ...

and a large estate at

Waldershare Waldershare is a village in the civil parish of Tilmanstone, in the Dover district, in Kent, England, near Dover. It has a church called All Saints Church. History The name "Waldershare" means 'District of the forest-dwellers'. Waldershare wa ...

, Kent. He was returned unopposed for New Romney at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

and voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 March 1714 At the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

, Furnese was returned in a contest as a Whig at New Romney on his own interest. He voted for the septennial bill, and in 1717 followed

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

into opposition. He voted against the Government on Lord Cadogan in June 1717 and opposed the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope, and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, which would have largely halted th ...

in 1719. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he was returned unopposed for New Romney. 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 was returned as MP for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

while he was defeated at New Romney. After being awarded the New Romney seat on petition, he decided to remain as MP for Kent. From 1729, he voted against the Government.

Marriages

Furnese was married three times. His first wife was his stepsister Anne Balam (1688-29 May 1713), the daughter of his father's second wife Matilda Vernon and her first husband Anthony Balam. They married on 1 October 1708 and had one daughter, Anne, who married the Hon. John St John, son of

Henry St John, 1st Viscount St John Henry St. John, 1st Viscount St. John (baptized 17 October 1652 – died 8 April 1742), of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire; Battersea, Surrey; and Berkeley Street, Westminster, Middlesex, was an English politician. In 1685 he was pardoned for ...

. Anne, Lady Furnese, died on 29 May 1713 aged 25. His second marriage on 8 July 1714 was to Arabella Watson, daughter of Lewis Watson, 1st Earl of Rockingham. She was the mother of Furnese's only son Henry and his second daughter Catherine, who married her first cousin Lewis Watson, 2nd Earl of Rockingham. Arabella died on 5 September 1727. He married thirdly, on 15 May 1729 at

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, Lady Anne Shirley, daughter of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. ...

. By his last wife, he left a daughter Selina who married Edward Dering. They had one other daughter who predeceased her father.Handley, Stuart (2004
"Furnese, Sir Henry, first baronet (1658–1712)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press,

Death and legacy

Furnese died on 7 March 1733 at

, and was succeeded by his son Henry. According to a contemporary, he died "by his own fault, for he had one of those colds hanging on him and he drank so hard that he was not sober for ten days before he was taken ill". He was buried at Waldershare on 14 March. His widow survived him by 46 years, dying in

Dover Street Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It al ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 25 February 1779 aged 70. She was buried in

Grosvenor Chapel Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair. History The foundation stone of the Grosve ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. His only son, Sir Henry Furnese, 3rd Baronet, was born about 1716 and matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, aged 16 in November 1732. He died unmarried and without issue aged 19 in

Montpellier, France Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. At the 2020 census, 299,096 people lived in the ...

, in March 1735. The estate was shared, as co-heirs, by Sir Robert's three surviving daughters: Anne, Catherine (Countess of Rockingham) and Selina."Parishes: Waldershare"
''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent'': Volume 10 (1800), pp. 50–61. Retrieved 17 November 2010. The title became extinct.

References

External links

*Newman, A. N. (1970
"FURNESE, Sir Robert, 2nd Bt. (1687-1733), of Waldershare, Kent"
in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754'', edited by

Romney Sedgwick Early life and education Richard Romney Sedgwick (29 May 1894 – 20 January 1972) was a British historian, civil servant and diplomat. He was the elder son of Professor Adam Sedgwick, 1854–1913, the zoologist, and Laura Helen Elizabeth Robinson ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furnese, Robert 1687 births 1733 deaths People educated at Eton College Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Truro Whig (British political party) MPs British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734