William Shippen (''bap''. 30 July 1673 – 1 May 1743) was an English Jacobite and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

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 ...

from 1707 to 1743. Shippen was educated at Stockport Grammar School, and entered Brasenose College, Oxford on 16 July 1687. Shortly one year after his matriculation he was elected king's scholar at Westminster. Admitted a pensioner of

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. ...

on 26 June 1691 he became a scholar there the next year. Shippen went to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1693 and graduated with a BA the year after and was called to the bar in 1699., Stephen W. Baskerville, �
Shippen, William (bap. 1673, d. 1743)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 7 Dec 2009. On 17 July 1712 he married Frances Stote (''d''. 1747), daughter of Sir Richard Stote of Jesmond Hall,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. Shippen made several contributions to the fierce propaganda war between Tories and Whigs in the early 18th century. In reign of Queen Anne he wrote and published two satirical poems, ''Faction Display'd'' (1704) and ''Moderation Display'd'' (1705). Both were successful, running into several editions and provoking Whig counterattacks. Stephen W. Baskerville, �
Shippen, William (bap. 1673, d. 1743)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 7 Dec 2009. Years later, in 1732, Shippen produced a prose defence of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

.Stephen W. Baskerville, �
Shippen, William (bap. 1673, d. 1743)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 7 Dec 2009. Shippen was

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 Bramber, Sussex from 1707 to 1713 under the patronage of Lord Plymouth. He was elected member for

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

at the 1713 general election. At the 1715 general election he was elected MP for Newton, Lancashire which he represented for the rest of his life. In the Commons Shippen often 'distinguished himself, speaking forcefully in debates...His purpose throughout was to advance the Stuart cause by any means that seemed likely to prove effective'.Stephen W. Baskerville, �
Shippen, William (bap. 1673, d. 1743)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 7 Dec 2009. In 1717 Shippen criticised

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

's speech as "rather...calculated for the Meridian of Germany, then for Great Britain" and called King George "a Stranger to our Language and Constitution". The House resolved that Shippen had said words "highly dishonourable to, and unjustly reflecting on, his Majesty's Person & Government" and he was sent to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

on 4 December 1717. In March the next year he wrote to the Old Pretender,

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

, informing him that all his wishes would be obeyed "with the utmost pleasure as well as fidelity". In mid-1721 Shippen, as the main go-between of English and Scottish Jacobites, met George Lockhart in Newcastle in order to come to an agreement on the best way to correspond. In 1740, however, Shippen was dropped from the Pretender's correspondence with English Jacobites for a French-backed rising due to the way he "trembles, and infuses his fears into the gentlemen to whom the King he Pretenderwrote". In February 1741 Shippen absented himself from the Commons rather than vote for

Samuel Sandys Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (; 10 August 1695 – 21 April 1770), was a British Whig politician who represented Worcester in the House of Commons from 1718 until 1743, when he was created Baron Sandys. He held numerous posts in the governm ...

's motion for Sir Robert Walpole's removal from office, declaring: "Robin and I are two honest men, he is for King George and I for King James; but those men with the long cravats only desire places either under King George or King James". He further commented that he would not "pull down Robin on republican principles".Eveline Cruickshanks, ''Political Untouchables; The Tories and the '45'' (London: Duckworth, 1979), p. 26. He died childless in 1743.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shippen, William 1673 births 1743 deaths People from Stockport People educated at Stockport Grammar School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple English Jacobites Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747