Sir Charles William Rouse Boughton (December 1747 – 26 February 1821) was an administrator in India with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and subsequently a member of 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 mem ...

representing first

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

and then Bramber.

Biography

Early life

Charles was the second son of Shuckburgh Boughton of Poston Court Hereford and Mary Greville (20 December 1713 – 1 March 1786), daughter of Hon. Algernon Greville, and Hon. Mary Somerset, daughter of Lord Arthur Somerset (1671–1743), son of

Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, Knight of the Garter, KG, Privy Council of England, PC (162921 January 1700) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1667, when ...

. He went to India as a writer in 1765 and held several judicial and administrative offices in the service of the East India Company. He was at various times a Persian interpreter and senior merchant and judge. During his time in India, he inherited an estate at Rouse Lench, Worcestershire by the will of Thomas Phillips Rouse. He left the East India Company and after returning to England in 1778, stood for Parliament at Evesham in 1780, where he was elected as one of the members after a hard-fought battle. His main interest in politics was India, and the speeches which he made between 1780 and 1790 all dealt with Indian affairs. In 1784 he was appointed

Secretary to the Board of Control {{unreferenced, date=November 2010 The Secretary to the Board of Control was a British government office in the late 18th and early 19th century, supporting the President of the Board of Control, who was responsible for overseeing the British East ...

for India and held the post until 1791. He opposed the

impeachment of Warren Hastings The impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the Parliament of Great Britain. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta, particularly relating to mismanageme ...

Later life

Charles did not contest the 1790 election and left Parliament. He assumed the name of Rouse by Royal Licence in 1791 and was created 1st Baronet Boughton Rouse. In 1794 he inherited the title 9th Baronet of Langford and changed his surname to Rouse Boughton. At the general election in 1796 he was returned unopposed at Bramber, a notorious

Rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

, where an agreement had operated since 1774, by which the two owners of the `miserable thatched cottages' who had the right to vote at Bramber returned a member each. In the new Parliament, he spoke several times on Indian affairs. He vacated his seat in 1800 when he was appointed an Audit Commissioner, a post he held until his death in 1821.

Family

He married Catherine Pearce Hall, the daughter of William Pearce Hall and his wife Catherine Comyn, in 1781. Catherine was the heiress of the Downton estates near

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

, including

Downton Hall Downton Hall is a privately owned 18th-century country house at Stanton Lacy, near Ludlow, Shropshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The house was built about 1733 by Wredenhall Pearce, who had inherited the estate in 1731. The new hous ...

. This was fortunate for Charles since his brother Edward had bequeathed the Boughton estates to Elisabeth Davis, his natural daughter by a serving maid, who later married baronet George Braithwaite. Catherine enhanced the estate at Downton, planting High Grove, or Catherine's Grove, and her portrait was painted by Romney in 1785. Charles was interested in agriculture and was renowned for his remarkable pig. In London, he lived at Corney House

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

. Charles' son William inherited the baronetcy and his daughter Louise (1785 – 9 July 1860) married firstly

St Andrew St John, 14th Baron St John of Bletso St Andrew St John, 14th Baron St John of Bletso PC FRS (22 August 1759 – 15 October 1817) was an English politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 until 1806 when he inherited a peerage. St John was born at Woodford, North ...

and secondly Sir John Vaughan. In the programme Who Do You Think You Are? (transmitted on BBC2 on 23 August 2010), comedian

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

discovered that his mother is a descendant through Louise's first marriage to Baron St John.

References

* Romney Sedgwick ''History of Parliament: the Commons – 1754–1790'', HMSO * R. G. Thorne ''History of Parliament: the Commons – 1790–1820'', HMSO * ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' * ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage''

External links

Shropshire Pig
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse Boughton, Sir Charles William 1747 births 1821 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British East India Company people British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1796–1800 Politicians from Worcestershire Civil servants in the Audit Office (United Kingdom)