Velters Cornewall (1697 – 3 April 1768) was an English politician. Moccas Court (geograph 3091574)

He was born in 1697, the second surviving son of Henry Cornewall, and the first with his second wife Susanna. He was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he matriculated on 8 July 1714 and entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. He succeeded his father in 1717, inheriting property in Herefordshire which included Moccas Park. In 1721 he made his first move into politics, writing to his cousin the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

, seeking to be appointed parliamentary candidate at

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...

. Oxford replied that he had already promised the seat to Sir Archer Croft, but "I have the greatest regard for your family, and should be glad of any opportunity to show the esteem for your person." The following year, he was selected to represent

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, a seat that he would hold for the next 46 years. On 26 February 1745 he seconded a motion calling for a parliamentary enquiry into the Battle of Toulon the previous year, in which his younger brother

James Cornewall Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cornewall (1698 – 11 February 1744) was an officer in the British Royal Navy who became a national hero following his death at the Battle of Toulon (1744), Battle of Toulon in 1744. His monument in Westminste ...

had been killed. The motion was passed, and Cornewall appointed to chair a

Committee of the Whole House A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...

to look into the matter. Cornewall spoke on several occasions in opposition to the

Cider Bill of 1763 The Cider Bill of 1763 was a proposed measure by the British government of Lord Bute to put a tax on the production of cider. Britain's national debt had reached unprecedented levels during the early 1760s following the country's involvement i ...

. This stand was popular back home, with Herefordshire a prominent

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

-producing county to this day. Ballads were written in his honour, and on 6 June 1763 "the High Sheriff, Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders f Herefordshirepresented an address ..expressing warmest thanks for isdiligence and steadiness in opposing the late tax." He married three times. First, in April 1722, to Judith, the daughter of

Sir James Herbert Sir James Herbert (c.1644 – 6 June 1709), of Coldbrook Park, near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, was a Welsh politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Monmouth Boroughs Monmouth Boroughs (also known as the Monmout ...

and widow of Sir Thomas Powell. Together they had a son who died in infancy. His second wife was Jane, the daughter of

Edmund Bray Edmund Bray (1686–1725) of Barrington Park, Gloucestershire was a British politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1701 to 1708 and in the British House of Commons from 1720 to 1722. Bray was baptized on 7 September 1678, a you ...

MP, whom he married in October 1734. She died on 10 April the following year. Finally, on 2 April 1737, he married Catherine (d. 1777) the youngest daughter and co-heir of William Hanbury of

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its winding ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Catherine bore him two children: * Frederick Henry Cornewall, baptised 10 October 1749 but died the same year * Catherine Cornewall (1752-1835), who became his sole heir. Velters died on 3 April 1768 and was buried in

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

. A monument to his memory was erected on the South wall of the

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. It was moved to the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

as part of the renovations performed by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

a century later. His daughter married Sir George Amyand on 18 July 1771 at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

. Following his late

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

's bequest (including Moccas Court), Sir George took on his wife's surname.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornewall, Velters 1697 births 1768 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Burials at Hereford Cathedral