Sir John Eden, 4th Baronet (1740–1812), was a British 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 1774 and 1790. Eden was the eldest son of Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet and his wife Mary Davison of Beamish, county Durham, and was born on 16 September 1740. 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 ...

on 25 June 1755. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

from 1755 to 1758 and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

in 1759. He married firstly Catherine Thompson daughter of John Thompson of Kirby Hall, Yorkshire on 26 June 1764. She died in March 1766.The Annual Peerage of the British Empire
p. 54 Secondly he married Dorothea Johnson, of York on 9 April 1767. They had 10 children. In

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs c ...

he was returned unopposed 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 o ...

for Durham County and was a supporter of Lord North's administration. He was returned again in 1780 although it was said of him shortly after that 'He holds the business of the House in great contempt, generally comes down after dinner, and is always the first to call for the question.' He was re-elected in 1784 and at the time of the Regency crisis in 1788 complained of being recalled to parliament. There is no record of his ever having spoken in the House and appeared to prefer hunting to spending time at parliament. In 1789 he became anxious about his seat citing the threat of "an alien banker". His younger brother William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, also reportedly opposed his run in 1790, and John was defeated in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

.Whig Organization in the General Election of 1790
p. 200 Eden died on 23 August 1812.

References

Sources

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Sir John, 4th Baronet 1740 births 1812 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Baronets in the Baronetage of England