Winchcombe Howard Packer (20 November 1702 – 1746), of Donnington and

Shellingford Shellingford, historically also spelt Shillingford, is a village and civil parish about south-east of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 Local Government Act transferred it to ...

, Berkshire, was a British Tory 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. ...

from 1731 to 1746. Packer was the eldest son of

Robert Packer Robert Packer (12 September 1614 – 25 February 1682) of Shellingford, Berkshire was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1646 and 1679, as well as being Usher of the Exchequer. Packer was the eldest ...

of Shellingford and Donnington. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

between 1715 and 1717. In 1718 he succeeded to the Bucklebury estate of his aunt Frances, Viscountess Bolingbroke daughter of Sir Henry Winchcombe. She was the wife of

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...

who went into exile after supporting the Pretender in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. The inheritance came under challenge from the Crown while Bolingbroke was under attainder, and from Bolingbroke himself when he was restored and returned to England in 1725. Packer succeeded his father to Shellingford in 1731. Packer was returned unopposed as a Tory

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 of ...

for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

at a by-election 5 May 1731 in succession to his father. He voted consistently against the Government. He was returned unopposed again at the 1734 British general election. In 1738 he obtained an Act of Parliament by which he was able to sell his estate at Shellingford to

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...

, who had the support for the bill from her grandson, John Spencer, who eventually came into the property. Packer was returned unopposed for Berkshire again at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. Packer died unmarried on 21 August 1746.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packer, Winchcomb Howard 1702 births 1746 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Berkshire British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747