John Robinson (1727–1802) was an English lawyer, politician and government official.
![John Robinson Bond](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/John_Robinson_Bond.jpg)
He was a treasury secretary of obscure origin, characterized by extraordinary diligence, efficiency, persistence, and deep conservatism.
Life
Born on 15 July 1727, and baptised at St. Lawrence,
Appleby,
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, on 14 August 1727, he was the eldest son of Charles Robinson, an Appleby tradesman, who died on 19 June 1760, in his fifty-eighth year, having married, at
Kirkby Thore
Kirkby Thore is a small village and civil parish in Cumbria, England (), in the historic county of Westmorland. It is close to the Lake District national park and the Cumbrian Pennines. It includes the areas of Bridge End, in the southwest by t ...
on 19 May 1726, Hannah, daughter of Richard Deane of Appleby. He was educated until 17 at
Appleby grammar school
Appleby Grammar School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria for students aged 11 to 18. Since 2011, it has been an Academy. Until 2013, the school was a registered charity.
History
The origins of Ap ...
, and was then articled to his aunt's husband, Richard Wordsworth, of
Sockbridge in Barton
Barton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Barton and Pooley Bridge, in Eden District, Cumbria, England. It lies about to the north east of Pooley Bridge, east of the River Eamont and west of the B5320 road from Pooley Bridge to Eamont Bridge. ...
, Westmorland, clerk of the peace for the county, and grandfather of the poet
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
. He was admitted as attorney, practised law in Appleby, and became town clerk on 1 October 1750; he was mayor in 1761. On 2 February 1759 he entered
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
.
Robinson acquired property and local influence, by marriage and inheritance, and
Sir James Lowther
James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale (5 August 173624 May 1802) was an English country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 27 years from 1757 to 1784, when he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Earl of Lonsdale. ...
made him his principal law agent and land steward. He was created a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of Westmorland in 1762, and through the influence of Lowther was returned as Member of Parliament for
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
on 5 January 1764, continuing to represent it until the dissolution in September 1774.
In 1765 Robinson rebuilt the White House, Appleby, and entertained
Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...
the prime minister there. He was created
secretary of the treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
by North on 6 February 1770.
A quarrel with Lowther blew up in early 1773, over local patronage; it saw a challenge to a duel, which Robinson turned down. Robinson resigned the post of law agent to the Lowther estates, and was succeeded in it by his first cousin, John Wordsworth, the poet's father.
Robinson held the secretaryship of the treasury until 1782. He found another seat in parliament, the safe government borough of
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
, which he represented from October 1774 until his death. In 1780 he was also returned for
Seaford, but preferred his old constituency. While in office he was the chief ministerial agent in carrying on the business of parliament, and he was the medium of communication between the ministry and its supporters. The whig satires of the day, such as the ''Rolliad'' and the ''Probationary Odes'' regularly attacked him, as did
Junius Junius often refers to:
* Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles
* The nomen of the ancient Roman
* or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar
* Rosa Luxemburg's ''Junius Pa ...
and
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...
, when attacking bribery: those whom he seduced from the opposition were known as "Robinson's rats". He brought, on 3 July 1777 an action against
Henry Sampson Woodfall
Henry Sampson Woodfall (21 June 173912 December 1805) was an English printer and journalist. He was born and lived in London.
Biography
Woodfall's grandfather Henry Woodfall (c. 1686–1747), was the author of the ballad ''Darby and Joan'' ...
, printer of the ''
Public Advertiser
The ''Public Advertiser'' was a London newspaper in the 18th century.
The ''Public Advertiser'' was originally known as the ''London Daily Post and General Advertiser'', then simply the ''General Advertiser'' consisting more or less exclusively o ...
'' for libel, in accusing him of sharing in government contracts, and obtained a verdict of forty shillings and costs.
Robinson declined to back the
Fox–North Coalition
The Fox–North coalition was a government in Great Britain that held office during 1783.Chris Cook and John Stevenson, ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', Macmillan, 1980 As the name suggests, the ministry was a coalition of the groups s ...
. On his retirement from the post of secretary of the treasury, he came into a pension of £1,000 a year.
After their quarrel Robinson offered his estates in Westmorland (including
burgage
Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century.
A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...
tenures in Appleby) to Lowther, who didn't want them, and sold nearly the whole property for £29,000 to
Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet
Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet (Lord Thanet) (1733–1786) was an English nobleman.
Life
He was the second son of Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet. Tufton received his early education at Westminster School. He was hereditary High Sheriff ...
, who thus acquired an interest in the parliamentary representation.
About 1778 Robinson purchased a property in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
from Peter William Baker, Wyke Manor at Syon Hill,
Isleworth
Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...
, between
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
and
Osterley Park
Osterley Park and House is a Georgian country estate in west London, that straddles the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park l ...
. There he modernised what became Wyke House, and added a dining room by
Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his o ...
(1778–79). The rest of the house was rebuilt shortly afterwards.
Robinson was created a D.C.L. of Oxford on 9 July 1773; he declined a peerage in 1784, but in December 1787
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
appointed him
surveyor-general of woods and forests
The post of Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks and Chases was an office under the English (later the United Kingdom) Crown, charged with the management of Crown lands. The office was at one time divided between surveyors south and north of ...
. A favourite of George III, he planted at
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
*Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wind ...
millions of acorns and 20,000 oak trees. In 1794 he printed a letter to
Sir John Sinclair
Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1754 – 21 December 1835), was a British politician, a writer on both finance and agriculture, and was one of the first people to use the word ''statistics'' in the English language, in h ...
, chairman of the
Board of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board ...
, on
enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
s.
Death
Robinson had a paralytic stroke in 1782, and he died of apoplexy at Harwich, on 23 December 1802. He was buried at Isleworth on 2 January 1803.
Family
In 1759 Robinson married Mary Crowe, said to have been daughter of Nathaniel Crowe, a wealthy merchant and planter in
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, obtaining with her a fortune. He also inherited from his grandfather, John Robinson, alderman of Appleby 1703–46, property in the county, and eighteen burgage tenures, carrying votes for the borough, in Appleby.
His wife died at Wyke House on 8 June 1805, aged 71, and was buried at Isleworth on 5 June. Their only child Mary Robinson was baptised at St. Lawrence Church, Appleby, on 24 March 1759, and married, at Isleworth on 3 October 1781, the
Hon. Henry Neville. She died of consumption at
Hotwells
Hotwells is a district of the English port city of Bristol. It is located to the south of and below the high ground of Clifton, and directly to the north of the Floating Harbour. The southern entrance to the Avon Gorge, which connects the docks ...
, Bristol, on 26 October 1796, and was buried in Isleworth churchyard, where a monument was erected to her memory. Her home was at Wyke House, and all her children were born there.
Legacy
By his will Robinson left legacies to Captain John Wordsworth and Richard Wordsworth of Staple Inn, London. His means were comparatively small. After his death his accounts were called for, and it was some time before they were passed, and the embargo placed by the crown on the transfer of his Isleworth property to
George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey
George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, PC (9 June 173522 August 1805, Tunbridge Wells) was an English nobleman, peer, politician and courtier at the court of George III.
He was the oldest surviving son of William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jer ...
removed. Robinson was benefactor to Isleworth, Appleby, and Harwich, leaving books to the grammar schools in the last two towns.
Robinson's correspondence and official papers, including many communications from George III, went to the Marquis of Abergavenny at
Eridge Castle. The substance of part of them was described in the 10th Report of the
Historical Manuscripts Commission
The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (widely known as the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and abbreviated as the HMC to distinguish it from the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), was a United Kingdom Royal Com ...
. Excerpts from the whole collections were edited by
Benjamin Franklin Stevens
Benjamin Franklin Stevens (February 19, 1833March 5, 1902), was a bibliographer and for about thirty years before his death was the US despatch agent at London.
Biography
Benjamin Franklin Stevens like his brother Henry Stevens a bibliographer, ...
for the
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
.
Wyke House in the 19th century became a school, run by
Alexander Jamieson
Alexander Jamieson (1782–1850) was a Scottish writer and schoolmaster, now best known as a rhetorician. He has been described as effectively a professional textbook writer. After the failure of his school, he worked as an actuary.
Life
Some of ...
, and then a private lunatic asylum.
One of the proprietors was
William Birmingham Costello
William Birmingham Costello (1800–1867) was an Irish surgeon, alienist and medical author.
Life
Costello was born near Dublin, and was educated there. He then spent the 1820s in Paris, a student of surgery under Jean Civiale, Guillaume Dupuyt ...
;
later physicians there were
John Stevenson Bushnan
John Stevenson Bushnan (1807–1884) was an English physician and medical writer.
Life
He was born in London, the eldest child of Joseph Bushnan, an official of the City of London, and his wife, Mary Newton, née Osborn. He passed at Edinburgh i ...
and then
Robert Gardiner Hill
Robert Gardiner Hill MD (26 February 1811 – 30 May 1878) was a British surgeon specialising in the treatment of lunatic, lunacy. He is normally credited with being the first superintendent of a small Insane asylum, asylum (approximately 100 pa ...
. Hill parted company with his partner Edmund Sparke Willett in 1860; Willett was listed as proprietor in 1874. It was still in use as a mental hospital in 1958.
In 1970 it was being used for mental health rehabilitation, and was
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The house was demolished in 1977 or 1978, after an enquiry; where it once stood is now Wyke Close.
''Alexander Jamieson, celestial map maker'' (abstract), by Ian Ridpath.
/ref>
Notes
Attribution
Further reading
* Connell, Andrew. "‘The potent spirit of the black‐browed Jacko’: new light on the impact of John Robinson on high politics in the era of the American Revolution, 1770–84." ''Historical Research'' 86.232 (2013): 292–312.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, John
1727 births
1802 deaths
English lawyers
People from Appleby-in-Westmorland
Members of Gray's Inn
Mayors of places in Cumbria
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1761–1768
British MPs 1768–1774
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1801–1802
UK MPs 1802–1806