Zachary Philip Fonnereau (31 January 1706 – 15 August 1778) was a British businessman and politician.

Early life

Fonnereau was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 31 January 1706, the fourth son of

Claude Fonnereau Claude Fonnereau (22 March 1677, La Rochelle – 5 April 1740, Hoddesdon) was a French people, French Huguenot refugee who settled in England and became a prominent merchant. He was the founding father of the Fonnereau family in England. In 1735 ...

Christchurch Mansion Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk by Edmund Withypoll (also written "Withipoll") around 1548–50. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits by the souther ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, a London merchant of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

extraction.

Career

Fonnereau played a prominent role in financing the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, and served as a director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in 1753 and 1754. He was returned as the Member of Parliament for

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

at the 1747 election on the interest of his brother,

Thomas Fonnereau Thomas Fonnereau (27 October 1699, in London – 20 March 1779) was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1741 and 1779. Fonnrereau was the eldest son of Claude Fonnereau, a wealthy Huguenot merchant who ...

, who had developed an independent interest in the borough at the expense of the Government (which had formerly controlled it by patronage). However, Zachary consistently voted in support of Government when in Parliament.

Personal life

By his marriage to Margaret Martyn, he left five children, two of whom also served as Members of Parliament for Aldeburgh: * Philip Fonnereau (1739–1797), MP for Aldeburgh from 1761 to 1768 who married Mary Parker, a daughter of

Armstead Parker Armstead Parker (c.1699–1777) of Burghberry Manor, Peterborough, Northamptonshire was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1734 and 1768. Parker was the only son of Charles Parker MP for Peterborough, and his wife ...

, MP for

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. *

Martyn Fonnereau Martyn Fonnereau (19 March 1741 – 18 May 1817) was the second son of Zachary Philip Fonnereau, a British merchant and banker of Huguenot extraction. He was a Director of the Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of ...

(1741–1817), MP for Aldeburgh from 1779 to 1784 * Charlotte Fonnereau (1742–1806) * Fanny Fonnereau (1744–1827), who married George Stainforth, Jr., in 1777 at Cornhill, died childless * Thomas Fonnereau (1746–1788), who married Harriet Hanson in 1786 and left children, including the author and artist Thomas George Fonnereau

References

1706 births 1778 deaths Directors of the British East India Company Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub