Sir William Barker, 5th Baronet (1685 – 23 July 1731) of Grimston Hall, Suffolk was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Tory 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 1708 and 1731.

Early life

Barker was the son of

Sir John Barker, 4th Baronet Sir John Barker, 4th Baronet (1655 – 14 August 1696) was an English baronet and Tory politician. He was the second son of Sir John Barker, 2nd Baronet and Winifred Parker, daughter of Sir Philip Parker. In 1665, he succeeded his older broth ...

and his wife Bridget Bacon, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon of Shrubland Hall, Suffolk. In 1696, he succeeded his father in 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 ...

. He attended Ipswich school and was admitted at Pembroke College, Cambridge on 7 April 1702, aged 16. He married Mary Bence, only daughter of John Bence, MP, of

Heveningham Heveningham is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located four miles south-west of Halesworth, in 2005 it had a population of 120. Heveningham Hall, a country house built in 1777, once belo ...

, Suffolk.

Career

After having narrowly failed to get elected in a by-election a year earlier, Barker was returned as Tory

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

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

in a contest at 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 finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

where his father in law was retiring as an MP. He voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the 1710 British general election, he was returned again in a contest for Ipswich. He was listed among the 'Tory patriots' who voted against the continuation of the war and among the 'worthy patriots' who laid open the mismanagements of the previous ministry. He was also a member of the October Club. At the 1713 British general election, he was returned unopposed as MP for

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

. Barker did not stand at the 1715 general election and was out of parliament for a few years in the course of which his wife Mary died on 1 January 1716. He was returned unopposed as MP for Suffolk at a by-election on 31 October 1722. He spoke against the Government on 23 November 1724 on the army estimates, and on 12 April 1727 on the vote of credit. 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 trig ...

he was returned for Suffolk in a contest. He spoke against the Government on 7 May 1728 on a vote of credit, and twice in April 1729 on the civil list arrears.

Death and legacy

Barker married as his second wife Anne Spencer, widow of Edward Spencer, of Rendlesham, Suffolk, at St Marylebone Church, London, on 9 February 1731. A few months later, he died on 23 July 1731 at his house in East Street, near Red Lion Square. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Sir John Barker, 6th Baronet, his only child by his first wife. He also left £500 in his will to provide for the upbringing and apprenticeship of Charles King, offspring of Mary King, who may have been his illegitimate son.

References

1685 births 1731 deaths

William 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 ...

Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ipswich {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub