Sir John Morton, 2nd Baronet (c. 1627–1699) of Milbourne St Andrew in Dorset, was an English landowner and 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 1661 and 1695.

Origins

He was the eldest surviving son of Sir George Morton, 1st Baronet (d.1662) of Milbourne St Andrew, by his second wife Anne Wortley, a daughter of Sir Richard Wortley of Wortley, Yorkshire, and widow of Sir Rotherham Willoughby. On the Restoration in 1660 he became Gentleman of the Privy Chamber.George E Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage''; Vol. 1: English baronetcies, 1611-1625 and Irish, 1618-1625
/ref>

Career

In 1661, he was elected a

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 Poole, Dorset, in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

and sat until 1679. History of Parliament Online - Morton, John
/ref> 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 ...

on the death of his father in 1662. He was elected an MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, Dorset, on 22 August 1679 and sat until 1695.

Marriages

He married twice: *Firstly, before 1664, to Eleanor Fountain (d.1671), a daughter of John Fountain,

Serjeant at Law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wr ...

), buried at Milborne; *Secondly, by licence issued on 24 February 1676, he married Elizabeth Culme, a daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Culme, Doctor of Divinity, Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, by his wife Deborah Pleydell (1623-1695) a daughter of Sir Charles (or Oliver) Pleydell (son of Gabriel Pleydell (d. ''circa'' 1591), MP, of Midg Hall in the parish of Lydiard St John (later

Lydiard Tregoze Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in many other ways. The parish includes the smal ...

) in Wiltshire) by his second wife Jane St. John, a daughter of Sir John St. John, four-times a

for

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, of Lydiard St John's (now

), Wiltshire. By Elizabeth Culme he had one daughter: **Anne Morton, who married Edmund Pleydell of Midge Hall.

Death and burial

Morton died without a male heir in 1699, aged 71, and the baronetcy thus became extinct. He was buried at Milborne St Andrew, Dorset.

References

, - 1620s births 1699 deaths Year of birth uncertain English MPs 1661–1679 Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 {{17thC-England-MP-stub